


beginning

by moonpr1ncess



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 53,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26803198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonpr1ncess/pseuds/moonpr1ncess
Summary: “Life hasn’t been verykindto me,” Sasuke mutters eventually, hating himself for even saying the words out loud.‘No,” Shikamaru agrees. “But I don’t think it’s been very kind to her, either. Locked away in that tower all her life like something out of a fairy tale.”“Pretty fucked-up fairy tale,” Sasuke says, taking another sip of his drink.Shikamaru hums. “The princess who happens to have a demon fox trapped inside her body, and the prince whose brother killed their entire clan. Sounds pretty classic to me.”
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 135
Kudos: 710





	1. Sasuke

The situation would be funny if it wasn’t so downright surreal. 

Sasuke stares at the floor of the council room, ignoring the gazes of the village elders on him. It’s a miserable, wet autumn afternoon. The room is dusty and chilly and silent save for the steady sound of the rainfall against the tinted glass windows.

“She should be here any minute now,” the Hokage says. Her hands are clasped together as she fixes them with a tense smile. 

_She_ is Uzumaki Naruto. The Jinchuuriki. The woman Sasuke is set to marry in a few weeks’ time, by no choice of his own.

They’d summoned him a week ago to inform him of the news. It was their first time speaking to Sasuke in years, and he’d been looking forward to spending the rest of his life without their cloying, slightly condescending remarks about the great loss of his clan and how much he’d grown up in the years that had followed.

It had been a long, arduous, rage-inducing meeting, with the Council’s intentions quite clear in Sasuke’s eyes: even though it had been years since Itachi had taken a knife to their entire clan, they were still wary of all things Uchiha. They wanted to secure Sasuke’s loyalty to Konoha as firmly as possible, and marrying him off to the Jinchuuriki was a seemingly appropriate and painless way of doing so. 

The fact that Sasuke didn’t attack them on the spot was a testament to how much he’d grown up. 

That would’ve just proved their point that he was of _bad blood;_ that he was an wild, unpredictable dog to be muzzled. And Sasuke respected his fallen clan far too much to ever let that opinion be given any weight.

Besides, if marrying him off to a demon was their _first_ choice, he didn’t want to know what they’d resort to if he outright attacked them. 

_Pick your battles wisely,_ his sensei used to tell him all the time. 

So even though he wanted none of this, Sasuke had relented. He’d agreed, with much reluctance, to the marriage. And now here he was, waiting for his future wife to show up to a meeting that was meant to start twenty minutes ago. 

He feels oddly calm, as though the entire situation isn’t really happening. _Surreal._ The room seems to be getting colder by the minute, and Sasuke is glad he chose to wear his cloak to the meeting. It’ll make the rainy walk back home less of a nuisance, too. 

“How have your missions been?” the old man grunts in a pitiful attempt to make small talk. His face is deeply lined with wrinkles. 

Sasuke shrugs. “Fine.”

There’s another long, awkward silence. Sasuke glances at the clock: it’s now half past six, and the Jinchuuriki is almost half an hour late. Tsunade taps a finger on the table, looking strained.

“She’s not usually late,” she murmurs apologetically.

Sasuke says nothing, and spends the next few staring at his hands until his eyes glaze over. Just when Sasuke's about to make up a bullshit excuse about a mission so he can get out of there, there’s a brisk knock on the door. A split-second later, a young woman steps inside the room, breathless.

“Sorry I’m late,” she announces, slamming the door shut behind her.

She’s soaked to the bone, her dark blonde hair plastered to her face. The garish orange cloak wrapped around her is dripping water onto the floor, and she scrambles to take it off and hang it up on the wall. 

All the while, she’s rambling about how she lost track of time and got caught in the thunderstorm, but whilst she was rushing back she ran into a lost kitten and got distracted trying to escort it back to its mother… 

“It looked so sad and cold and scared,” she adds, giving herself a little shake as though she were a cat, too. Droplets of water splatter onto the wall and floor.

Sasuke stares, bemused, as Uzumaki Naruto strolls over to the table, her wet boots making irritating squeaking nosies on the wooden floors with every bouncing step she takes. 

She’s not very tall nor very short, and from what he can see, neither skinny nor well-built. She’s wearing a bizarre outfit consisting of a loose orange blouse, dark blue pants and black sandals. There are far too many straps on the sandals for them to be practical, and one of the blouse’s sleeves is slightly ripped. 

A single word runs through Sasuke’s mind at the sight of her: _annoying._ A feeling of doom settles deep in his stomach, and he resists the urge to slam his head onto the table. 

Tsunade’s eye twitches in poorly concealed anger as the Jinchuuriki sits down beside her. The still slightly out-of-breath blonde takes a few moments to pull her seat in closer to the table, and Sasuke almost winces at the loud screeching noise that follows as it drags on the floor. It seems everything about this woman is loud and annoying and over-the-top. 

_Just my luck,_ he thinks to himself bitterly. _Just my fucking luck._

“You look lovely today, Granny,” Naruto says cheerfully, unaware of Sasuke’s murderous thoughts. He’s not the only one: the council Elders are scowling, and Tsunade is glaring at the blonde, as though she wants to throw a table at her (and it’s not an impossible feat, Sasuke’s seen her do it twice before).

But then Naruto pauses, glancing towards the two elders almost hesitantly.

“And you guys do, too,” she adds.

The Council elders exchange blank looks. 

“Thank you,” Homura responds after a moment. “How have you been, Naruto?”

Naruto beams at her. “I’m doing great!” she exclaims. She tucks her wet hair behind her ears and settles down as Tsunade begins the formal introductions. 

Now, Sasuke can get a better look at her. Her eyes are a bright, warm shade of blue. Her skin is tanned, and there are three identical scar marks etched into her cheeks, almost like whiskers. 

It is at that moment Sasuke remembers that this is the _Jinchuuriki._ She has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed into her body, the monster that destroyed much of the village and claimed countless lives on the night she was born. He was only a baby himself, unable to remember any of it, but his childhood was full of ominous references to the chaos and terror of that fateful night. 

People generally avoid talking about the Jinchuuriki, as though referencing her mere existence will bring bad luck. Even Sasuke doesn’t know much about her despite his job. He knows she was raised in a large, maximum-security building at the opposite side of the village, which is where she still lives today. The building is constantly surrounded by elite ANBU and jounin shinobi. She wasn’t allowed to join the Academy or join a genin team. Instead, the Council arranged for her to have private lessons - whatever that means.

He stares at her, feeling intrigued all of a sudden. He wonders if she knows how to fight or use jutsu, or if she’s been on any missions. 

He tries to focus, but he can’t sense anything out of the ordinary emitting from her except her own unique chakra, deep and steady and surprisingly warm.

Frustrated, he’s considering using the Sharingan to get a better look — social courtesy be _damned, _the idiot showed up twenty minutes late soaking wet because of a fucking _cat_ — but then he looks up and and finds Naruto watching him.__

____

She stares right back at him, her big blue eyes curious. Sasuke straightens up and glares at her, angry and embarrassed at having been caught staring, but Naruto simply tilts her head to the side.

“Head of ANBU, huh,” she repeats. Sasuke realises Tsunade has been describing his job background to her. And then, she remembers something with a loud snap of her fingers and points at Sasuke. “Hey! Were you on that team who chased me around the Hokage monument a few years ago?”

“No,” Sasuke snaps, gritting his teeth because he even though he wasn’t, he _remembers_ that incident: six of his subordinates on a wild goose chase around the village, trying to find the Jinchuuriki (who, for some reason, had wandered out of her room in the middle of the night) before any enemy shinobi did.

She grins, and she is clearly as amused by the memory as Sasuke is irritated. “I love the masks you guys wear. I always wanted to one for myself, you know. Hey, what does your mask—”

“We’re here to discuss the details of the marriage,” Koharu interrupts. “Not the ANBU and their masks.”

“Forgive the child,” Tsunade tells him quickly, glaring at Naruto as she speaks. “She’s not familiar with these kinds of formalities.”

“She’ll have to learn,” the old man says, sounding unimpressed. He’s watching Naruto with open disapproval. Sasuke can’t blame him.

“Of course,” Tsunade says smoothly. “There will be time for that.”

Sasuke scoffs, shaking his head in disdain. 

“Something funny, Uchiha?” Tsunade demands.

Sasuke shrugs. “Yes,” he says slowly. “This entire shit-show.”

“Watch your mouth, boy,” Homura snaps. 

“Look,” Sasuke says, annoyed, “This isn’t going to fucking work. Marriage are usually about compatibility. Do you really think I’m going to be compatible with this idiot?”

There’s a moment of silence in the room as they all stare at him, stunned. Naruto is the first to recover, her eyes flashing in anger.

“ _Excuse_ me?” she demands. “You think I’m happy with this situation? You think I _want_ to marry a stuck-up pretty boy?” Sasuke opens his mouth to interrupt her, but she’s too worked up to even pause for breath.

“I’ve tried to be nice to you but you just sit there, pouting and scowling like a total drama queen, like you’re the _only_ person being affected by all this. Newsflash: you're not! And by the way,” she adds, “Even if you _weren’t_ on that team of ANBU, I can’t imagine you’re any better since you’re the one that trained them. It wasn’t hard at all to escape those guys, you know. They were _so_ slow. I just went back with them after a few hours because I was bored and hungry. So, yeah. And also, I bet your ANBU mask is a cat because you’re a little p—”

“Do you ever _shut up?_ ” Sasuke asks, rubbing at his temples, because not only is she a blathering idiot, she's also loud as fuck. 

She opens her mouth to retort, but then she closes it with a scowl, torn between letting him have the last word and proving his point. Then she opens it again, only to shut it a split-second later. Along with the wet hair stuck to her face, she looks absolutely ridiculous. Sasuke wants to point that out to her, because her dig at his ANBU team was annoying (and he’s already planning on confronting the men in question first thing tomorrow morning), but then Tsunade interrupts, sounding furious.

“That is enough,” she snaps. “Look at you two, acting like complete children.”

“Let’s get this out of the way,” Homura insists. He turns to Naruto, who straightens up in her seat seriously as he addresses her. “Uzumaki Naruto, you are to marry Uchiha Sasuke at the end of this month. You will relocate to the Uchiha compound and become Uchiha Naruto.”

Naruto’s eyes widen. “But...nobody told me I had to change my name,” she says.

“Don’t be silly,” the old man tells her dismissively. “It’s traditional. And you have no real attachment to the Uzumaki clan.”

Sasuke doesn’t know what he means by that. Naruto does, however. She looks angry and hurt, but Tsunade fixes her with a look that stops her from saying anything.

“Your children will also be take on the name Uchiha,” the old man continues. 

Naruto’s jaw drops before a deep, steady blush creeps up her cheeks. She glares down at her lap in silence.

Sasuke feels sick to his stomach. These old fools are really expecting things to progress between them to the point where they have children. He can’t imagine himself even looking at this woman fondly, let alone touching her. 

He’s been with women before, of course. On missions, while out of the village, he’ll come across places specifically designed for shinobi to get off. Some genuinely enjoy the company of the women there, and visit for a sense of normalcy and intimacy, in a miserable attempt to play house for a few hours. But others, like Sasuke, use it purely as a form of stress relief every few weeks or so. It’s quick, it feels good, and it always takes the edge off. 

But he’s never been in an actual relationship. Sasuke barely even has friends outside of his ANBU teammates. He lives alone and spends his free time alone. He’s always preferred his own company, ever since he was a child. 

And now he’s getting married. He’s expected to be a husband - and eventually, a father. 

It makes sense, of course. Having children in Konoha would be a surefire way of guaranteeing Sasuke’s loyalty. Having children with the _Jinchuuriki,_ who is so permanently attached to the village she might as well be glued to it, would just seal the deal. 

But he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want her, and he doesn’t want children with her. And he can’t imagine anything as cruel as bringing a child into this world: a world where a man can wake up and slaughter his own people; a world where death and treachery reign supreme; where old men and women in dusty rooms can make decisions about other people’s lives with no mercy.

“You two should meet again to speak privately,” Tsunade is suggesting tentatively. “Before the wedding takes place.”

“We can arrange that. A week or so in advance, perhaps,” Homura agrees. “So you can talk amongst yourselves and discuss…things.”

Sasuke has no interest in discussing anything with Uzumaki Naruto. And the sooner he can get out of this room, the better. 

“I’m busy,” he mutters. “Missions and training.”

Instead of mouthing off, Naruto says nothing. She doesn’t look angry anymore, just troubled. She’s staring at the glass of water on the table, blue eyes almost glazed over with how far away she is.

“Well, I think that settles everything,” Tsunade says after a while. She’s watching Naruto carefully. “The dates have been confirmed, the priest and temple are all sorted…anything else?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so,” the old man says. “We can discuss the smaller details at a later date.” 

“I think that’s all for today,” Tsunade agrees. And then she reaches out to take Naruto’s hand in hers and squeezes gently. The Jinchuuriki blinks back to reality, straightening up in her seat, and her lips curve upwards to give Tsunade what’s clearly a very big but very fake smile. 

Sasuke is about to get up from his seat and make his exit when the old woman turns to him with a smile.

“May I just add,” Homura tells him, clasping her hands together, “I know your mother and father would be so proud.”

Sasuke says nothing, rising from his seat slowly. He can feel his chakra thrumming angrily, in time with the wild pounding of his heart. _Calm down,_ he tells himself. 

He glances towards Tsunade, who dismisses him with a curt nod, before he turns and walks away with his fists clenched. He can hear the annoyed, disgruntled voices of the elders as he shuts the door behind him, but he doesn’t care. 

He takes quick, measured steps down the stairs and out of the building. He ignores the ringing in his ears and the sick feeling in his stomach as he makes his way back to his apartment. Once he’s inside, he slams the door shut and leans against the wall, taking deep, measured breaths as he tries to calm himself down.

It doesn’t work.

The next morning is a blur. He’s too distracted to focus properly. He’s supposed to spend a few hours training the newest recruits, and they eye him warily as he screws up on a basic jutsu during the introduction. The recruits all whisper amongst themselves, startled by the sight of the great Uchiha Sasuke making such a silly mistake, but he can’t bring himself to care.

He hadn’t slept more than a few minutes all night, haunted by dreams of his family. Not the nightmares, in which he comes home and finds Itachi standing over their parents’ corpses, hands dripping blood. It’s been a long time since those dreams scared Sasuke.

Instead, he’d dreamt of his aunt Mari’s wedding. Sasuke had only been five years old, and it was the first wedding he’d ever been allowed to attend because his mother finally trusted him to stay awake during the whole thing. It had been hard because the ceremony was so long and boring, but he did stay awake. At the end of the night, his father let him drink a few sips of champagne, and he ate a slice of cake bigger than his face, and Mari had picked him up and kissed him on the cheek and whispered, _I’ll miss you, Sasuke._

Two years later, every single person at that wedding had been killed. Mari was one of the first to die because she lived right next to the compound entrance with her husband, so Itachi had gotten to her first. She was six months pregnant.

Nobody knows any of this, of course. His subordinates and teammates all assume he’s just having a bad day. The only one who doesn’t seem bothered is Shikamaru, who confronts him at lunchtime as he’s sitting on a bench at the edge of the training field.

“What’s gotten into you?” the man asks by way of greeting, handing Sasuke a cigarette.

Sasuke accepts it silently. He takes a deep puff of smoke, willing himself to calm down as he tries to come up with a believable excuse. Then he thinks, _fuck it_ , and replies, “I’m getting married.”

Shikamaru blinks, but he doesn’t look surprised. He takes a seat on the bench next to him. “To?”

“The Jinchuuriki,” Sasuke says. “I guess they want to make sure I don’t go all serial-killer like my older brother.”

Shikamaru takes another drag of his cigarette, still unfazed. “That makes sense. She seems troublesome. Remember when the boys chased her all the way up the—” 

_“Yes,”_ Sasuke interrupts with a sigh, rubbing at his forehead. “She _is_ troublesome. This whole situation is fucking troublesome.”

Shikamaru hums, saying nothing. They sit in silence for a few minutes, smoking in the quiet autumn breeze. 

Shikamaru finishes his cigarette first. He tosses it onto the ground, grinding it into the earth with the heel of his boot before he says, “It’s not the end of the world, though.” 

He claps Sasuke on the shoulder before getting up and walking away. 

Sasuke mulls it over, feeling somewhat settled for the first time all day. It’s such a simple comment, but the man’s got a point. He’s alive and well, smoking a cigarette in a quiet field all by himself. He can survive this. He’s survived worse.

“I guess not,” he says.


	2. Naruto

“I don’t like him,” Naruto says.

Tsunade doesn’t bother looking up. She’s been ignoring Naruto for most of the meeting, busy scribbling away at the paperwork in front of her. 

Naruto scowls, kicks her feet up on the desk, and scowls even more when Tsunade shoves them off with a harsh click of her tongue. 

“Brat,” Tsunade warns, still not looking up from her desk.

“He’s _horrible_ ,” Naruto insists. “He’s awful and rude and stuck-up. I was nice to him, and he insulted me.”

“You were late,” Tsunade mutters. “Because of a _cat._ ”

“It was a very cute cat—"

“And if that wasn’t ridiculous enough,” Tsunade continues, voice stern, “You bullied your guards into entertaining your shenanigans.”

“They’re there to protect me,” Naruto says with a shrug. “Not to babysit me. They don’t care what I do as long as I’m safe.”

Tsunade glances up at her. She’s trying to look severe, but her mouth is twitching in a smile. Naruto finds herself grinning back, until she hears what Tsunade has to say next.

“Give the boy a chance,” The Hokage tells her. “He’s a bit prickly, but he’s not so bad.”

“He’s horrible,” Naruto snaps again. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“Well, too bad,” Tsunade sighs, rolling her eyes as she goes back to her paperwork. “Because you’re marrying him at the end of autumn, and that’s final.”

Naruto scowls at her. Trust the old hag to cut right to the chase. “Are the guards coming with me?” she asks, changing the topic. 

“We’ve been over this already, you ditzy brat. As I told you, Uchiha Sasuke is taking over your protection, so _no,_ ” Tsunade answers, shaking her head. “He’s not affiliated with ROOT.”

Naruto gapes at her. “You’re really trusting that guy with _my_ safety? If I could escape that guy’s team in my sleep, do you think he’s any better?” She pauses for dramatic effect and then adds, “You know, I really don’t think Lord Danzo will approve.” 

She _hates_ Danzo, hates even speaking his name, but she’s so desperate to get out of this situation that she’ll bring him up if she has to.

Tsunade smirks at her, as though she anticipated Naruto’s response. “Uchiha Sasuke is not his team. He’s Konoha’s finest shinobi. He was Kakashi’s student, you know.” She pauses and adds, “Though there’s no doubt he’s surpassed his sensei by now.”

Naruto leans back in her chair, trying to look unimpressed, even though the mention of Kakashi is enough to make her heart race. 

“So you’re rewarding your finest shinobi by marrying him to a monster,” she remarks. 

“You are _not_ a monster,” Tsunade growls. “Say that again, and I’ll throw this desk at you.”

Naruto smiles wryly. She doesn’t consider herself a monster, not really. But sometimes—

Sometimes it’s good to have that confirmed by somebody else. 

“Where’s Kakashi, anyway,” she blurts out before she loses her nerve. 

Tsunade gives her a soft, sympathetic smile, and the expression makes Naruto’s heart sink as she waits for her response.

“He wants to see you,” the Hokage tells her. “You know that. But —”

“But Lord Danzo disapproves,” Naruto finishes with a sigh. The answer is always the same. She doesn’t know why she expected anything different today.

Kakashi was the only connection Naruto had to her parents. He had been her father’s student years and years ago, before she was born.

When she was a girl, and her security handled in the Sandaime’s relaxed manner, he would visit her every few weeks. He would walk into the room, tall and wiry with a dog mask covering his face. The other ANBU in the room would snap to attention, saluting him, because he was always their senior officer. But then they’d leave and the mask would come off, revealing gentle grey eyes. 

Kakashi would tell Naruto stories of her father, how brave and clever he was, how his enemies all feared him on the battlefield. He told her about her mother Kushina and her great beauty and even greater temper; how she cared deeply for Kakashi, an orphan, as well as his teammates. 

And he always told her that they loved her more than anything.

Kakashi _saved_ her. The Sandaime did his best, but he was always so busy and distracted. He was only concerned about her health and didn’t seem to consider her emotional wellbeing at all. The ANBU personnel he left in charge of her were harmless and unassuming, patient with her pranks and attention-seeking behaviour, but even after years and years of being with her, they still felt like strangers.

She had cold, detached doctors who asked her questions about her mental state, if she had any nightmares or violent urges or if she heard any menacing voices in her mind. Their appointments were always held in white, sterile rooms, with ten soldiers guarding the door. 

Kakashi showed her love. And Naruto knows that if it weren’t for him, she would have been a different person entirely. Maybe she would be the monster Danzo sees every time he looks at her. 

When the Sandaime died, Danzo took control of Naruto’s security. Gone were the ANBU personnel, replaced by even more intimidating men in full black uniforms. _ROOT_ , he called them, and they watched Naruto’s every move like hawks. 

It also meant Kakashi’s visits stopped entirely. The last time she'd seen him was when she was seventeen, and he’d marvelled over how much she’d grown, how much she looked like her father. But he’d sent her a postcard from a mission seven months ago, where he was escorting a feudal lord to his holiday home near the sea. He’d signed it with a funny face and the words, _Hope you’re well._

Even when Tsunade became Hokage and expressed her disapproval of Naruto’s security, as well as keeping her separate from the only thing she had resembling a family, Danzo refused to budge. _We must be vigilant,_ he’d replied sternly.

Naruto has always hated Danzo for taking Kakashi away from her. She hates everything about him. She hates his visits, where he asks her routine questions about how her lessons are coming along, and how he completely ignores any of her questions about Kakashi or her parents or her requests for anything other than basic necessities. 

She hates how he looks at her, as though she is a wild dog that had strayed too far from her leash. 

And most of all, she hates how much she fears him, how she still has nightmares of him locking her up in a dungeon for the rest of her life. 

But this Uchiha Sasuke was Kakashi’s student. He _knows_ him, just as Kakashi knew her father. And if he were to take control of Naruto’s security now…maybe, just maybe…

“I bet Danzo's pissed,” she says evenly. “He won’t have me under his watchful gaze any longer.”

Tsunade sighs. “No, he’s not,” she replies. “But the Council insisted on this arrangement.”

Naruto taps a finger on the edge of her chair. “Will Kakashi be at the wedding?”

At that, Tsunade’s lips quirk up into a smile. “That can be arranged.”

Naruto tries to hide her own smile, but there’s no use. She sits up excitedly. “And after I marry this…Uchiha guy, I’ll be able to see Kakashi whenever I want?”

Tsunade blinks at her. “That’s up for Uchiha to decide.”

Naruto scowls, her anger rising at the Hokage’s response. “That’s not fair. You _saw_ him. You heard how he spoke to me. Who’s to say this guy won’t just lock me up in a room for the rest of my life?”

“I won’t let that happen,” Tsunade says, shaking her head. “And the Uchiha is not cruel, despite his behaviour at the meeting. He won’t lock you away. This marriage is just as much an inconvenience to him as it is—“

“Oh, I doubt that,” Naruto snaps. “I’ve been treated like an object my entire life, locked away for years and years. What’s the worst that’s happened to the poor Uchiha boy? Other than that ugly face.”

Tsunade doesn’t look amused. Instead, she looks surprisingly angry. “His entire clan were massacred.”

Naruto stares at her. “ _What?_ ”

“There’s so much you don’t know,” Tsunade sighs, rubbing at her temples. She looks exhausted and haggard, as though the jutsu she uses to hide her true appearance is slipping. “Lord Danzo and the Council decided it was best to keep these things from you for as long as possible, but…” she sighs again, shaking her head.

“What happened to his clan?” Naruto demands, heart pounding in her chest.

Tsunade picks up her pencil again. Instead of writing, she taps on the edge of the table. “The Uchiha clan was one of the noble clans of Konoha. When Sasuke was eight years old, his older brother Itachi killed them all, sparing only Sasuke.”

“But _why? _” Naruto asks. She feels like she’s about to vomit. She remembers that cold, cold gaze the Uchiha had pinned her with as she sat across from him. Cold and utterly devoid of emotion.__

____

____

_How long has he had those eyes?_

Tsunade shrugs. “I don’t know. And nobody knows where Itachi is, either. He could be dead, he could be alive. That fact has caused Sasuke great pain.” She continues tapping at the pencil, deep in thought.

And then she looks up, fixing Naruto with her sharp gaze. “You’re not so different, you know. He’s had a hard life. He’s a good man. He’s just… troubled.”

 _No kidding,_ Naruto wants to say. You don’t survive a clan massacre and end up normal.

When she’d lost her parents, she was a newborn baby. She couldn’t remember ever having them, and she couldn’t remember losing them, either. Both facts caused her immense pain almost every single day of her life. But the Uchiha…

She imagines him as a boy, stumbling over the corpses of his fallen people. Attending their funerals with nobody to hold his hand and wipe his tears. 

Only a child, but all alone in the world.

Naruto is surprised to find herself blinking back tears. She _knows_ that pain. She knows what that’s like; knows how it eats away at you during every waking moment.

She gets up from her seat quickly, trying to keep her voice even as she says, “I’ll be going now.”

Tsunade nods, gives her a tired smile, and gets back to her paperwork. 

The ROOT members are waiting for Naruto outside. As soon as she closes the office door behind her, they flank her on all sides and start walking briskly. She follows them silently, a heavy feeling in her chest as they escort her back home.

The next day, Naruto asks to arrange a meeting with Uchiha Sasuke. 

Anzu, the ROOT member in charge of her protection at home, fixes her with a raised eyebrow. “Why?”

Naruto sighs, leaning against the wall. “Because I want to talk to him.”

“About what?” Anzu demands. 

Naruto scowls at him. Anzu is a tall, intimidating man. He never addresses her by her name, only _Jinchuuriki,_ and he takes great relish in rejecting as many of her requests as possible.

“Because he’s my future husband and I _want_ to,” she snaps, flushing a little at her own words.

Anzu glares at her. His tone is cold when he says, “You’ll have years and years to talk to him once you’re married. Now run along, Jinchuuriki.”

Naruto is about to kiss her teeth and walk away, but then Anzu gives her a smug smirk and she thinks, _fuck it._

“Actually,” she says, making sure her voice takes on a harsh tone, “The Council told me to arrange a meeting with him. They thought it was of utmost importance. Unless you think you know better than the Council?”

Anzu raises his eyebrows again. He’s trying not to show it, but he looks a little annoyed. “And if I ask the Council, they’ll confirm what you’re saying?”

“Of course,” Naruto says, rolling her eyes. “Why would I lie about this? Come on, just make it happen. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”

He mulls it over, looking unconvinced. Then he smirks and tells her, “He might not even answer. You might not be aware, Jinchuuriki, but Uchiha Sasuke is a busy man. He’s also one prickly bastard, so—”

“You’ve got a lot in common, then,” Naruto snaps. “Just send for him, will you?” And with that, she marches away to her room, fists clenched in annoyance. 

Anzu’s been in charge of Naruto’s security for three years now, and she hates him more and more with each passing day. He enjoys riling her up, because if she responds with even the slightest bit of violence he has full permission to lock her up for a full 48 hours. Never mind that Naruto could never do him any real damage, since the extent of her shinobi “education” barely covers any actual fighting and only focuses on defence.

“Nothing good can come from her learning how to fight,” Danzo had snapped in response to her and Tsunade’s requests to get her a real taijutsu teacher. 

Naruto walks into her bedroom and collapses onto her bed with a sigh. It’s been a relatively quiet day, but she still feels exhausted.

Half an hour later, she’s curled up in bed with an old book when there's an impatient knock on her door. 

She opens it slowly, glaring at Anzu warily. “What?”

But he simply tells her, “You’re in luck, Jinchuuriki. Uchiha Sasuke has agreed to meet with you tonight. He’ll be here at ten.”

“He’s coming _here?_ ” Naruto demands. “Why here?”

Anzu kicks at the door harshly, angered by her questioning of his authority — and no doubt by her earlier insult. “Until you actually marry the man, _I’m_ in charge of your security. And I say you’ll only meet him here.”

Naruto slams the door shut, ignoring him as he hisses, _Watch yourself, Jinchuuriki, don’t give me an excuse to lock you up—_

“Ten o’clock,” she mutters, getting back into bed. It’s already half past eight, and she was looking forward to staying up all night in order to finish her book. It’s called _A Brief History of Konohagakure_ , and it was gifted to her by Kakashi on her ninth birthday. It’s a surprisingly good read, even if it is very out of date. 

Her favourite chapters are the ones about the Third Shinobi World War, where her father had gained the title _Yellow Flash_. Warlords and commanders would see him on the battlefield and flee. Nobody could match his strength and his speed. 

Naruto closes her eyes, overwhelmed with such intense longing she’s sure it would knock her off her feet if she was standing.

At ten o’clock, Anzu escorts her downstairs to the dining hall. She can’t help but feel nervous, wondering if the meeting is going to go as badly as the last one did. 

_At least I’m not late today,_ she thinks to herself.

Uchiha Sasuke is seated at the table, a steaming cup of tea in front of him. He’s clad in his shinobi uniform again, but this time without a cloak. There’s an intimidatingly large sword strapped to his side. She wonders if he ever wears civilian clothes. 

He watches Naruto warily as she approaches, fixing her with that unreadable gaze of his. His eyes are as dark as his hair, both contrasting sharply with his pale skin. It’s as though he doesn’t get enough sunlight, even though Naruto knows he spends far more time outdoors than she does.

“Hello,” she mumbles as she sits down opposite him.

He ignores her greeting, eyes flickering from Anzu — who has taken his place by the door — to the other two ROOT members flanking the windows. 

“What is this about?” he asks.

Naruto straightens up in her seat. His dark gaze is unnerving, as though he’s looking into her very soul. It’s not unlike the way he was watching her at their first meeting. 

“The Council suggested we should meet up before the wedding, so—”

“And do you always take the Council’s dumb suggestions seriously?” he says.

Naruto glares at him, anger rising within her as a result of his blatant disinterest. _This bastard._ “I just thought—“

“I’ve had a long day,” he interrupts, “The last thing I need is—“

“Stop speaking over me!” Naruto snaps furiously. 

He blinks at the heat in her voice, falling silent despite himself.

“Whether you like it or not, we’re going to be married by the end of the season,” Naruto continues, trying to control her temper. “You’re a shinobi. And apparently, a good one. You should know all about planning and thinking ahead.”

He scoffs, so quiet she almost misses it. “And what is it you want, exactly?”

“Maybe just to talk?” Naruto says. “Is that so bizarre? To want to have a conversation with the person I’m marrying?”

Every time she mentions the marriage, the frown on his face deepens. He glances at Anzu, who is staring straight ahead; his expression is carefully blank even though he can hear every word. 

“Shinobi also hold privacy and discretion in high regard,” the Uchiha tells her, tone dismissive. And then, after a pause, “Not that I expect you to anything about that.”

Naruto glares at the cup of tea, clenching her fists under the table. “I’m just as frustrated by this situation as you are.”

“Really?” the man asks, voice dripping with condescension. “Because through this arrangement, I’m in charge of your security. I’m being saddled with a huge fucking responsibility.”

“Well, I’m sorry I’m such a hassle,” Naruto sneers, trying to sound unbothered. 

The truth is that she feels _small._ It’s not the first time she’s been reminded of what a liability she is. Danzo reminds her of it every chance he gets. 

Sasuke ignores her, unfazed by whether or not she’s taken offence. He falls silent again, rubbing at his temples tiredly.

Naruto bites back a sigh and tries again. “Kakashi is going to be at the wedding.”

Naruto hopes the mention of his sensei will make the Uchiha warm up to her. But he doesn’t look interested at all. “Is that so.”

Naruto leans forward ever so slightly. “Yes. I know he’s your sensei. Tsunade told me.”

He’s silent for a long moment. Then he reaches for his cup of tea and takes a small sip. 

“A long time ago,” he responds finally. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Why not?” Naruto asks, baffled. And then, she repeats, dumbly, “But — he’s your sensei.”

“He _was,_ ” Sasuke corrects. “I’m not his student anymore.” His voice is still quiet, but there’s a noticeable edge to it now. “Why do you care, anyway?”

Naruto smiles despite herself, anger vanishing even in the face of his mounting annoyance. “Kakashi was my father’s student. I haven’t seen him in a while, but since he was your sensei and the two of us are getting married, maybe—”

“We’ll see,” Uchiha interrupts again, already aware of what she’s about to suggest. “Just because your security is being transferred to me doesn’t mean I’ll take it lightly. Marriage or no marriage.”

There’s the slightest curl to his lip when he says the word _marriage,_ as though the mere idea fills him with disgust. 

_That makes two of us,_ Naruto thinks bitterly. 

She wants to get up and walk away from this conversation, from _him,_ but what’s the use? In a few weeks’ time, they’ll be getting married. They’ll be bound to each other for the rest of their lives. She won’t be able to walk away from him then.

And besides — 

“Tsunade told me about your clan,” she tells him quietly. “About…what happened to them. I’m sorry.”

Sasuke looks at her sharply. His expression is carefully blank, but he’s gone very still.

“I know what it’s like to be alone,” she continues, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “And—”

“You know _nothing,_ ” Sasuke says harshly.

Naruto stiffens at the sudden burst of his chakra, harsh and dangerous like a roaring fire. Anzu straightens up from where he’d been leaning against the wall, eyes sharp.

“Do not presume to understand me,” Sasuke tells her. His voice is tight with anger. “We are nothing alike, _Jinchuuriki—_ ”

“Is there a problem?” Anzu interrupts. He’s standing right next to them now, fists clenched as though bracing himself for a fight.

Naruto blinks up at him. She realises, faintly, that she is trembling. She’s not sure if it’s from the threatening aura of the Uchiha’s chakra and how it filled the room, or if it’s from his words, the curl of lips as he looked at her in disgust and called her _Jinchuuriki—_

“No,” Sasuke tells Anzu. His voice is calm, but Naruto can sense that his chakra is still spiking dangerously, as though he’s warning the other man to stand down. 

Anzu does. All three of them can tell from the Uchiha’s chakra alone that this is not a fight he will win. Anzu backs away warily, giving Naruto a sharp glare so that she can end the meeting already.

Naruto is still trembling, but not as violently as before. She clears her throat. “I have an early start tomorrow,” she says. “I should get some rest. Good night.”

Sasuke says nothing. He clasps his hands together and stares blankly at the wall.

 _He’s not so bad,_ Tsunade had insisted. And, like a fool, Naruto had believed her. 

But now she sees the man she’s marrying for what he is: cruel and harsh and unfeeling. A man who barely even looks at her — and when he does, all he sees is a monster. 

Naruto rises from her seat, forcing herself to remain calm even though she wants to scream and punch him. She will not give in to her emotions, she will not let this man and Anzu and Danzo believe she is an uncontrollable _monster—_

Sasuke doesn’t even glance at her as she walks out of the room. But as she’s making her way upstairs, she hears the front door open and slam shut. The entire house shakes with the force of it. 

Naruto sits down on her bed with a shaky sigh. She rubs at her face tiredly, and she’s not surprised when she feels the wetness on her cheeks. 

“Fuck,” she mutters under her breath. 

Naruto does not consider herself a monster. Even though everyone treats her like one because of the demon fox that happens to be residing in her body, she has always insisted that she was _Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi of Konoha. Human. Blonde, blue-eyed, five foot six._

When Anzu would lock her up, she would mutter that under her breath again and again, like a mantra. She needed to remember who she was, needed to remember that they were wrong and she was right.

But at times, she feels so overwhelmingly alone, as though there’s an ocean separating her from everybody else that she can never quite cross, even in her most serene moments with Tsunade in her office, or when running her fingers over the various bits and bobs Kakashi has gifted her over the years. 

And when the Hokage had told her about the Uchiha, about his pain and suffering and loss, she thought maybe — 

Maybe he would understand. That maybe, through this unpleasant arrangement, she wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

“Fuck,” she mutters again, the tears streaming down her cheeks now even as she tries to rub them away. 

She feels like the biggest idiot in the world.


	3. Sasuke

Sasuke rubs at his temples, ignoring the laughter of the men around him. It’s nearing midnight, but the dimly-lit bar is still packed with various travellers, their loud chatter carrying out of the building and into the streets. 

He’s heading back from a week-long mission in the Land of Lightning, hunting down two shinobi who had managed to escape with vital information pertaining to the Hokage. He had been offered the opportunity to take a team, but as the head of ANBU, they’d permitted him to go on the mission alone. It’s what he prefers, anyway: years of working with _and_ commanding fellow shinobi haven’t changed the fact that Uchiha Sasuke always works best alone. 

The mission was over soon enough. The two men would have put up a better fight if they weren’t distracted by their own squabbling and rapidly-increasing mistrust of each other. Sasuke took them out quickly and neatly, and now he was a few days away from Konoha, in a small bar that was too loud and too humid but had a sign outside promising the best drinks in the entire district. 

Sasuke doesn’t even like to drink. It's late, and he’s been waiting far too long for someone to serve him, and he can already feel a headache coming on from how loud the assholes in the building are. He’s about to leave and go back to the small lodgings he’s rented for the night when the barmaid finally approaches him. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she says softly. “What can I get you?” 

Sasuke orders a beer, because that’s the only thing he knows how to order, and she smiles at him. He says nothing, watching her carefully as she bends down to get a glass and pours him some beer, slender fingers working deftly to prepare his drink. She hands it over to him with another kind smile, which is when he notices the slight flush of her cheeks.

Sasuke says nothing as he takes the drink. He continues watching her, however, as she serves other travellers. Every now and then, her eyes slide over to him, and her cheeks turn red each time they make eye contact. 

He’s finished half of his beer when he finally nods at her. She pauses in preparing an order, turning half-way to face him.

“When do you finish your shift?” he asks, enjoying the flush that creeps up her neck.

Her name is Yumiko, and Sasuke is in luck because she finishes her shift only fifteen minutes after he asks. She takes him back to her tiny apartment, just a few doors down the street. As soon as they’re inside Sasuke presses her up agains the wall and kisses her. It's been a while since he's done this, but she doesn't seem to notice. She simply sighs into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him and letting him press himself against her, before she pulls away and leads him to her small bedroom. 

When she strips off her uniform and lets the clothes fall to the floor, he sees her shiver in the chill of her room. Sasuke takes in the sight of her, appreciates her up close: her cherry-red lips and deep brown eyes, the curve of her hips and her full breasts. He reaches out and runs his fingers through her long hair, inhales the faint scent of her flowery perfume, feels himself stir with the first inklings of desire. 

When he leans in closer, taking in more of her scent, she meets his gaze with her lips slightly parted. They turn up into a small smile as Sasuke places his hand on the back of the neck and slowly pulls her in for a kiss.

Minutes later, he has rolled on the condom, and he has her face-down on the bed, on her hands and knees. Sasuke pushes in, one hand wrapped around her long black hair, the other reaching down and around to brush against her breasts. 

She moans, pushing back against him, silently urging him to go in deeper. Sasuke obliges, uses her fingers on her, and within minutes she is whimpering through an orgasm, fingers digging into the bedsheets as he continues to roll his hips. He bites back his own groan as he thrust the last few times, and he comes with a sigh.

He leans back, watching her carefully as she catches her breath, chest still heaving. For a brief, jarring moment, Sasuke remembers who he is and where he is, and where he will be in a week’s time. But then she rolls over with a pretty smile, legs slightly spread and one gentle hand dipping between her thighs, and it is easy to forget. 

The walk back to his small lodgings is a brief one. The road is pitch black and silent except for the sound of his boots on the ground. Sasuke _should feel good_ — he took her two more times before finally leaving, with her curled up in the bed and sleepily watching him put his clothes back on — but there’s a frustrating feeling prickling at his skin. He knows why, but he ignores it. That’s the only thing he can do.

He takes off his clothes as soon as he’s inside, rushing through a quick shower before making his way back to bed. 

But when he collapses on the sheets with an exhausted sigh, about to slip into a deep sleep, Sasuke feels it: a pang of guilt. There’s no ignoring it anymore. Not when he’s getting married in a week. 

It’s ridiculous. He has no reason to feel guilty. He owes the Jinchuuriki nothing — their marriage is at the bequest of the council, a neat way of binding him to the village once and for all. They can spout their nonsense about children and the future all they like. Nothing is going to come of their relationship. 

Not when she’d had the nerve to look him in the face and _assume_ things about him. _I know what it’s like,_ she’d said quietly, as though there wasn’t a demon monster residing within her very body. The sight of her blue eyes, wide with sympathy as she sat across from him, had made him feel angrier than he had in years. 

No, Sasuke owes her nothing, and he shouldn’t feel guilty. 

But he does anyway.

Shikamaru approaches him during their lunch break, already enjoying his third cigarette of the day. Sasuke hadn’t behaved unusually in the morning, but the other man has always been startlingly aware of Sasuke’s moods.

“What is this time?” Shikamaru asks, sitting down opposite him with a sigh. “The marriage business?”

“No,” snaps Sasuke. Then, he pauses and says, “Yes. It’s stupid.”

“Isn’t it always,” Shikamaru mumbles.

Which is how Sasuke finds himself, with much reluctance, sharing what’s on his mind with the other man in a low, annoyed mutter. Shikamaru hums thoughtfully, taking another drag of his cigarette before he speaks.

“Marriage, as an institution, expects both parties to follow certain rules,” Shikamaru agrees once he’s finished. “It’s all troublesome nonsense, and you’re not even married yet.” 

“Exactly,” Sasuke says firmly. 

“But you’ve always been obsessed with honour and duty and all that,” Shikamaru adds. “So it makes sense you’re feeling a bit miserable.”

Sasuke stares at him, trying to control his anger. “I am _not_ obsessed with honour and duty,” he snarls eventually. “And I do not feel miserable.” And then, because he can’t stand the way Shikamaru’s lips are twisting up into a wry smile, he mutters, “For all the talk about you being a genius, you’re a real moron.”

“Is that so,” Shikamaru says, openly grinning now.

“Yes,” Sasuke snaps, hating how petulant he sounds to his own ears. “Just like the Jinchuuriki. Maybe _you_ should be the one marrying her instead.”

“Neither I nor my clan have a history of violence and bloodlust,” Shikamaru replies, puffing on his cigarette. “So that’s unlikely.”

Sasuke glares at him, annoyance prickling at his skin. Shikamaru is the only person who can get away with talking to him like that: if it were anyone else, he’d have beaten them unconscious. 

He’s about to say something else (he is _not_ obsessed with honour and duty, he doesn’t owe her _anything_ ) when Shikamaru puts out his cigarette and rises from his seat, stretching languidly. 

“You know, you’re marrying the woman,” Shikamaru tells him. “Buy her some flowers and some chocolate, and maybe she’ll let you touch her. Then you won’t have to fuck around, and you’ll be able to spare the rest of us your emotional instability.”

“Fuck you, Nara,” Sasuke mutters, glaring at the table. But it’s too late — the man is walking away, calm as ever.

Shikamaru’s words echo in Sasuke’s mind as he finishes his tasks and heads home. He feels guilty, there’s no denying that. He feels it like a slow, twisting knife to the gut. It takes him by surprise, because he hasn’t felt guilt in a while — especially not this strong.

Sasuke tries to make sense of it as he walks to his apartment, pace languid. It’s a warm afternoon in the village, and the sky is a brilliant shade of blue despite it being late autumn. He feels a little ridiculous, bothered by the idea of _betraying_ a woman he owes absolutely nothing. And even when they are legally wed, Sasuke will still not owe her anything other than the guarantee of her safety. 

Sasuke pauses outside his apartment building with a frown. He hasn’t given much thought to the Jinchuuriki’s safety or where exactly she’s going to stay. His apartment is small, and even though he lives alone (has always lived alone) even he finds it cramped on a good day.

His frown deepens. The Jinchuuriki lives in a large section of the security facility designed for herself, her guards and…whatever other secrets Danzo wants to keep. The dining hall alone was larger than Sasuke’s entire apartment building. Jinchuuriki or not, she’s clearly been coddled and spoiled rotten her whole life. He can already hear her annoyed voice complaining about her new living conditions under Sasuke’s care. 

Before he knows it, Sasuke feels a deep sense of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. It’s ridiculous, but he is a shinobi, and his mind always begins picturing the worst-case scenario. 

If the Jinchuuriki complains to the Council, they might actually take her side. The Hokage has always been tactful, has rarely mentioned Sasuke’s clan in front of him, but the Council have never had the same respect for him. They knows Sasuke has legal ownership of the Uchiha clan compound, and in the past, they’ve asked why he doesn’t live there himself and, with some irritation, why he doesn’t just let them take it off his hands. Sasuke has refused to answer their questions, and they’ve backed off. But now… 

Sasuke hasn’t stepped foot in the compound in years. The last time was shortly after the mass funeral for his clansmen. 

“Sasuke, please,” the Third Hokage had pleaded with him once the ceremony was over. It was just the two of them, standing there in the cold afternoon. “It’s not good for you to live there all alone, not after what happened.” 

He’d reached out, offering Sasuke a pair of shiny keys. “There’s a room prepared for you in—” 

“I will not betray my clan by _leaving_ them,” Sasuke had hissed at the old man, furious, before he’d stormed off to the place he’d always called home. 

He’d made it all the way past Aunt Mari’s house, past the garden his grandmother grew daffodils in, past the little shop his family got all their clothes tailored in. The complete silence of the small streets was eerie and frightening, but on he walked. 

He made it all the way to his own front door, but then he’d caught sight of a few drops of blood on the doorstep. The cleaners deployed by the Council had been sloppy. 

Sasuke had stared at the blood, head suddenly ringing with the memory of his own screams and the sight of his brother standing over their mother’s dead body. And then he’d ran out of the compound, all the way out the gates, and thrown up in the bushes again and again. 

“Mother,” he’d gasped when his stomach was finally empty. Once he was finally strong enough to stand up on his shaky legs, he’d gone back to the Third Hokage for the keys to a new place he could call home. 

He hasn’t gone back since. He has absolutely no intention of doing so now. 

Sasuke shakes his head as he makes his way inside his small apartment, swallowing down the sickly feeling. The Jinchuuriki will just have to adjust. 

Sasuke buries himself in his work for the next few days. He overworks both himself and the new recruits, exerting himself on day missions so that he can finish them in a few hours. When he comes home, he practises seals and sets out extensive safety procedures. He hears nothing from the Council or the Hokage or the Jinchuuriki herself, and he hopes that’s a sign she’s resigned herself to the reality of things.

But his busy schedule and the merciful silence from the Council don’t quell his increasing anxiety and worry. Sasuke hates it. He hates feeling uncertain and on-edge, as though he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’s a shinobi, and he is used to always being prepared and steady-minded even in the height of battle. 

And then, two nights before the wedding, Sasuke has a dream. 

He finds himself back in the clan compound. He is a boy again. It’s summer, the sun is shining, and the streets are full of his family members, alive and well. Mari ruffles his head as she walks past him, her belly round and arm linked with her husband’s. His grandmother offers him a lollipop. Sasuke smiles and waves at them all and keeps walking. 

But then he stumbles and falls, and when he looks up he’s surrounded by ugly, twisted faces. His mother, pale face dripping with blood, glares down at him. 

“ _Mother,”_ Sasuke breathes, his blood running cold.

“So, you’re back,” she says, her voice horrible and cruel. “But why did you leave?”

“Why did you leave us, Sasuke?” another voice asks. 

It’s Mari, cradling a baby in her arms. Blood is pouring out of her nose, her mouth, her eyes. Sasuke stumbles backwards on his hands, terrified, trying to get away, but it’s no use. They corner him, each voice more terrible than the last.

_“Why did you leave?”_

_“Sasuke, why did you leave us?”_

When he wakes up, chest heaving in pure fear, his face is wet with tears. “I’m sorry,” he hears himself gasp, shaking all over. “I’m sorry.”

The next day, Sasuke buys a new apartment. It’s fully furnished, has two bedrooms and a spacious sitting room, and a good view of the village. The estate agent, excited at the prospect of selling a home to such a famous shinobi, rambles on about the well-to-do neighbours and great local facilities. 

“It’s comfortable for two or even three people,” the estate agent insists, which is all Sasuke cares about.

“I’ll take it,” Sasuke says immediately, and in a few minutes he owns a new home. 

The man had raised his eyebrows at Sasuke’s lack of concern with the price, and at his disinterest in being shown around for more than a few minutes. But Sasuke makes more than enough as ANBU Captain, and he has plenty of savings. All he cares about is making sure the Jinchuuriki has no reason to complain to the Council about her new accommodations, and that the Council has no reason to ever bring up the clan compound ever again.

“We’ll have it cleaned up for you by the time you come home in the evening,” the man adds.

So when Sasuke finishes work for the day, he heads to his apartment and packs his stuff. It takes him less than an hour to gather everything. He’s never owned much, just his clothes and scrolls and weapons. There are no photos or books to pack away, no sentimental memories attached to any rooms, no reason to linger. 

The new apartment is quiet and clean and uncomfortably big, but he concludes it’s good enough after all. Sasuke puts his things away and settles in the first bedroom he finds. It’s not that late in the evening, but as it nears winter the sky has begun darkening earlier and earlier, and he feels tired after a long day of work. Sasuke washes up and settles down in bed, and he falls into a sleep that is - finally - devoid of dreams.

Sasuke has already made the mistake of mentioning the wedding date to Shikamaru, so the man insists on treating Sasuke to drinks the night before the ceremony as a form of celebration.

“Usually, you’re supposed to do this with a lot of people,” Shikamaru explains over his beer. “But you’re a miserable bastard and I’m the only friend you have, so here we are.”

“Here we are,” Sasuke mutters, taking a sip of his own beer. Wedding or not, he feels calmer than he has in days, and doesn’t find himself feeling annoyed by Shikamaru’s light-hearted insults. 

"So have you spoken to her since the Council summoned you both?" Shikamaru asks. 

Sasuke gulps down a bitter mouthful of beer, shrugging. "She wanted to talk to me. Invited me to her place." 

"Oh?" Shikamaru says, intrigued. "That's nice. How did it go?" 

When Sasuke doesn't say anything, he sighs. "You were an asshole, weren't you." 

"It's not _my_ fault the idiot refuses to know her place," Sasuke snaps, hating how defensive he sounds and the unimpressed look Shikamaru is sending his way. 

"Her _place?_ " Shikamaru repeats in disbelief. "That's your _wife,_ Sasuke, whether you like it or not. She might have been clumsy with it, but at least she's trying. She's probably terrified and confused and miserable, but she's still being a lot more mature about this than you are." 

Sasuke sneers. "Yeah, whatever," he says. There's no point in explaining things or defending himself to Shikamaru. Despite the depth and longevity of their friendship, this is the one thing the other man will never understand. 

They both fall silent, drinking their beers. Sasuke tries to finish his as fast he can so he can go home already, but then Shikamaru looks up and asks, “Can I give you some marriage advice?” 

“No,” Sasuke says at once.

Shikamaru ignores him. His face takes on a serious expression and he leans in slightly to speak. 

“Be kind to her,” he says. “This isn’t an easy situation for you, I know, but put yourself in her shoes. She’s grown up with everyone around her reminding her that she’s a freak. She doesn't need it from you, too.”

“Oh, so she _isn’t?_ ” Sasuke says dryly. “I could’ve sworn she has a murderous demon fox trapped inside her body.”

“You’ve seen her,” Shikamaru challenges. “You’ve _met_ her, Sasuke. You really think that girl is the Kyuubi?”

Sasuke swallows another sip of his drink, scowling. He’d tried to sense the demon’s chakra during their first meeting, but he couldn’t. All he got was Uzumaki Naruto. A loud voice, an abrasive personality, and those bright blue eyes that gazed at him far too searchingly. 

“Be kind, Sasuke,” Shikamaru says again, interrupting him from his thoughts. 

“I’m not a fucking bully,” Sasuke snaps, even though he can remember exactly what he'd said to her and how he'd said it; how she'd flinched back at the sheer force of his unbridled, furious chakra. 

“You’re smart,” Shikamaru says, as though reading his thoughts. “You’re brave and you’re reliable and you’re the best shinobi I’ve ever seen. But would you honestly call yourself _kind,_ Sasuke?”

It’s a startling question. Sasuke doesn’t think he’s ever been asked it before. When he doesn’t answer, can’t answer, Shikamaru adds, “I promise you, things will go a lot smoother if you just try to be kind to her.”

He takes a sip of his drink, dark brown eyes oddly intense in the dim lighting of the bar. Shikamaru is a good ally. He’s also a good friend because he never crosses the line, never asks too many questions and always knows his boundaries. But right now he’s refusing to back down. 

“Life hasn’t been very _kind_ to me,” Sasuke mutters eventually, hating himself for even saying the words out loud.

‘No,” Shikamaru agrees. “I don’t think it’s been very kind to her, either. Locked away in that tower all her life like something out of a fairy tale.”

“Pretty fucked-up fairy tale,” Sasuke remarks, taking another sip of his drink.

Shikamaru hums. “The princess who happens to have a demon fox inside her body, and the prince whose brother killed his entire clan. Sounds pretty classic to me.”

Sasuke feels his lips twitch despite himself. “So does that make the Hokage the fairy godmother?”

“No, that would be Danzo,” Shikamaru replies, and he starts laughing so loudly that even Sasuke starts chuckling, and the chunin at the bar stare at them and whisper, _Wow, I didn’t know the Uchiha could laugh._

He thinks about Shikamaru’s words later that night, when he’s in bed in his new apartment. _Would you honestly call yourself kind, Sasuke?_

Sasuke hasn’t been concerned with kindness in a long time. He wasn’t lying when he told Shikamaru that life hasn’t been very kind to him: he lost hope in kindness when his brother turned against their own people and murdered them in cold blood. But now, curled up in his new, too-big bed, he remembers his mother. 

He remembers the way she would calm him down after his temper got the better of him, whenever his father told him off or Itachi pushed him around or Shisui broke his promise to take him training with him in the forest. He remembers how she’d run her hands through his hair, how she’d nearly always let him have an extra snack after dinner time, how she’d tuck him in bed and tell him story after story after story just because he asked her to. 

“I love you, Sasuke,” she would whisper to him as he fell asleep, and he never doubted her words for a second.

His mother was kind. She was loving and gentle. On good days, Sasuke can still remember the exact details of her smile, the dimple in her left cheek and the way her dark eyes twinkled.

 _Be kind, Sasuke,_ he hears in his mind. He hears it again and again, playing on a quiet loop in his head. And as the minutes go by and his eyes begin to close, he could swear it’s his mother’s voice, not Shikamaru’s, whispering the words.


	4. Naruto

The night before her wedding, Naruto sees _it_ in her dreams.

It’s not the first time, and she knows that it won’t be the last. The dream begins as it always does: with her falling.

Naruto screams at the top of her lungs, arms and legs waving wildly as she falls down, down, down. _Where_ she’s falling from she doesn’t know. And yet she falls for what feels like an eternity, body twisting this way and that, the horror and fear and confusion all so overwhelming that she just stops screaming after a while. Her mouth hangs open as she keeps falling, desperately inhaling as much air as she can. It’s so dark she can’t even see her waving arms in front of her, reaching out desperately for something to hold onto.

And then she lands in a lake.

Naruto’s entire body stings from the force of the landing, but she can’t help but feel at ease for the first time since the dream began. At least now the hard part is over.

Naruto swims to the surface of the lake, arms arching. It’s so dark the waters are are an inky, deep blood-orange colour. The first time she fell in the lake, she’d thought the it was blood, and she had screamed so loudly she’d woken up. 

The second time, she’d made it all the way to the shore, trembling and sobbing, only to see her clothes weren’t soaked red as she’d thought. _It_ had shown up, then, and she’d realised falling into a lake of blood wasn’t the scariest thing in the world after all. 

Now, she crawls to the shore, taking in her surroundings as she wipes at her wet face. Like the lake’s water, the shore itself is also a dark shade of orange. The entire place glows with it, humming with pure chakra. _Its_ chakra. 

Naruto is combing her hair back with sore fingers when the lake begins to bubble. She holds her breath and waits. The water boils over in a matter of seconds, each bubble growing larger than the last. She watches, with wide eyes, as a long slanted eye appears. A huge, black, round nose. A pearly-white fang bigger than her entire body, sharp enough to kill her with the slightest graze — followed by another, then another, then another.

Each of these details build up on top of each other, the entire lake steaming with chakra now. Naruto trembles at the sheer power of the energy before her as the Demon Fox takes form. It looms over her, massive. Behind its enormous body, she can see the nine tails swishing violently.

The Demon looks at her with narrowed eyes, as though wondering what her flesh will taste like. Naruto meets its gaze with her own, forcing herself to stay steady and calm in the face of its raw power and bloodlust. Even though this is just a dream, she will not slip up.

“You’ve grown weak,” it says. Its deep, languid voice booms through her entire body, making her shake. 

Naruto glares at it, jutting her chin out as she stands her ground. “My seals are stronger than ever.”

“Seals are only as strong as the person who casts them,” the Fox replies, tilting its head to the side in faint amusement. It’s creepy how human-like it behaves during their encounters.

Naruto know she should leave. If her teachers knew she was speaking to the Demon Fox, even just in her dreams, the consequences would be painful. Just asking about the Fox’s true nature once before had been enough to have her locked up for a week. 

She’s practised the seals for years and years, knows how to steady herself in the face of its constant, unyielding rage. But in moments of personal weakness, she slips up. Not enough for the Demon to take control, no, but it still slips through the cracks and confronts her in her dreams.

“Silence,” Naruto snaps at it, and it bares its fangs at her angrily. _That’s more like it,_ she thinks. Better for it to be blinded by its own rage, as opposed to perceptive and calm.

“One day,” the Demon snarls, blood-red chakra oozing out of its nostrils like smoke, “I’m going to kill you.”

“You’ve been saying that for years,” Naruto mutters. 

“It’s a promise,” the Demon insists. “I’ll kill you, just like I killed your mother and your father. Oh, how they screamed—“

 _“Silence,”_ Naruto repeats with a hiss, deciding she’s had enough.

She reaches out with her hand and immediately makes contact with a metal gate. It’s been invisible for the duration of her talk with the Demon, but it’s always been there: the manifestation of Naruto’s own seals. Ancient Uzumaki seals passed down from the same people who taught her mother, Kushina, and _her_ predecessor, Mito Uzumaki, the First Jinchuuriki.

The Nine-Tailed Fox is an enormous beast, but this gate is far bigger. Its face had been pressed up against the metal bars when Naruto reached out for it, and now it crouches back with a screech, its fur burning from the powerful seals. 

“Stay out of my head,” Naruto warns.

The Demon doesn’t dare approach the gate, but his lips twist up into a slow, cruel smile. “As long as I’m sealed within you, we’re one and the same, _Jinchuuriki."_

Naruto opens her mouth to respond, skin prickling with anger, but she’s suddenly flung backwards into the water of the lake again. She’s submerged in a split-second, kicking wildly in the water and too blinded by her own fear to remember it’s just a dream — before she wakes up in her bed with a gasp.

Naruto sits up, breathing heavily. She’s soaked in sweat, but her small bedroom window is open, and the late autumn air outside cools her down straight away. It’s still dark outside. If she squints, she can see the faintest sliver of daylight coming over the village horizon.

Naruto exhales slowly, running a hand through her hair and trying to steady her breathing. _It’s my wedding day,_ she thinks. 

Maybe in another life, those words would have brought her joy. Maybe the idea of getting married, being a wife, and having a husband would have made her the happiest woman in the world. But as she turns over to her side, all she can feel is dread.

The woman dressing her up slaps at Naruto’s hand as she tries to fiddle with her hair. 

Naruto watches herself in the mirror, slightly repulsed by how different she looks. Her typical daily outfits consist of pants and loose shirts, preferably as orange as possible. She generally doesn't care about what she wears as long as it's clean and comfortable. But now, she’s wearing a fancy, navy-blue kimono and her short blonde hair is tied up in a neat bun. The woman had also dabbed something onto her face that made the whisker-like scars on her cheek disappear like magic. 

A few ANBU are guarding the door, but their postures are lazy as they wait for them to finish up. Anzu stops by to check up on her, and is deeply amused by what he sees.

“Wow, you clean up well, Jinchuuriki,” he remarks, leaning against the wall. Naruto glares at him, but that only riles him up even more. “You almost look like a real woman.”

“Don’t you have some work to do? Go away,” Naruto snaps, because Anzu has _always_ hated being dismissed by her.

He narrows his eyes at her, walking up to where she stands in front of the full-length mirror and leaning down. Naruto meets his gaze unflinchingly. This close to him, she can see the freckles on his nose and the stubble on his jaw.

“I hope you’re ready for your wedding night, _Jinchuuriki,”_ he tells her, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “The Uchiha is a harsh man. You won’t be able to walk by the time he’s done with you.”

Naruto glares at him, stomach churning and cheeks flushing in disgust. Even the harsh old woman getting her ready gives him a sharp look when she hears his words.

Anzu has been getting more confident around Naruto ever since the marriage was first announced. A few months ago, he never would have gotten so close to her, let alone openly said such a thing. 

Ignoring her anger, Anzu straightens up and grins at his men. “But at least then we won’t have to worry about her running away!”

A few of them titter at the joke, and Naruto wishes she could stab them all with the sharp pins in her hair. _They’re the real monsters,_ she thinks furiously. _Not me._

Thankfully, Anzu leaves the room a few minutes later. Naruto still feels sickened by his words, as well as how the old woman is pulling her this way and that, making sure her kimono is fitted just right. 

“What’s the point?” Naruto snaps, frustration getting the better of her. “This isn’t a real wedding anyway.”

The woman is crouching down, guiding her feet a pair of sandals. “I’m acting on the Hokage’s orders,” she says simply.

“Well, I think this is enough,” Naruto says sharply, and she takes a few steps back before crossing her arms. The woman straightens up with a frown, but she gathers her things and makes her way to the door. 

“I’ll tell them you’re ready,” she says. 

Naruto watches her leave, filled with guilt. The woman hadn’t done anything. Her anger with Anzu had gotten the better of her, and she’d lashed out at someone who didn’t deserve it. 

She sighs, making her way over to the small table in the centre of the room. Outside, the sun is setting. There’s still twenty minutes before the ceremony is to begin. 

_Twenty minutes, and I’ll never have to see Anzu again,_ she thinks to herself.

The joy doesn’t fill her with as much glee as it should, because his words are still weighing on her heavily. She knows he was just trying to rile her up, but she can’t help but wonder if there’s any truth to his words.

Naruto is not an idiot. She knows about sex: both the sterile information she’s learned in her health class and the crazy, _filthy_ things she’s heard whilst eavesdropping on some of the chattier ANBU. Most men enjoy it. Most men _want_ it, consider it a vital need, and they make sure they have regular access to it. Uchiha Sasuke is a man. 

Naruto, herself, is curious about it. The combination of hormones, her naturally overactive imagination and being locked up for an entire lifetime has made such curiosity inevitable. Sometimes she has dreams, and she wakes up red-faced and frustrated. 

And every few months, she’ll find herself in the shower or the bath or in bed, still reeling from that frustration. Her own hands start roaming lower and lower until she finds that spot between her legs, pressing against it in a way that make her see stars, makes her entire body feel like it’s on fire, limbs trembling with the sheer pleasure of it all. 

But she’s always believed it wouldn’t be something she’d ever have to think too much about, because nobody will ever touch her in a way that matters. The people in her dreams remain faceless and anonymous, and after she touches herself, she’s always filled with a powerful sense of regret and emptiness that extends far beyond purely physical. She’s the Jinchuuriki, destined to a life alone.

Until now. 

_He doesn’t even want me,_ she tells herself firmly. It had been clear in the way he’d looked at her. _He thinks I’m a monster._

Naruto looks up out of the window. She wishes she could sprout wings and fly off into the evening sky and disappear forever.

Anzu returns twenty minutes later, and is thankfully accompanied by three other guards. They lead her out of the room and into another section of the building: a small ceremony hall she didn’t even know existed.

It’s clean and spacious, but noticeably bare. There’s a long, old-fashioned couch at the end of the room and a few pillows. Nobody’s bothered to decorate the place, and she’s glad. The silliest thing to do would be to pretend this is a real wedding.

A few people are already there: the Hokage (wearing a fancy kimono of her own and a tentative smile on her face as Naruto as she walks in), Danzo (who eyes her up and down carefully), two ancient-looking priests, an official representative of the village and —

Kakashi.

Naruto leaps towards him at once, so overjoyed she barely hears Anzu barking at her to stop running. Kakashi catches her in his arms, spins her around, chuckling softly in her ear as he hugs her tight. He smells the same as he always does: like faint cologne and even fainter smoke. 

“Look at you,” he says when he puts her down and pulls away. “You look more and more like your father every time I see you.”

Naruto grins at him, taking his hands in hers and holding them tight. “It’s been way too long! I’m so glad you’re here.”

“My sensei’s daughter is getting married. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Kakashi tells her, but even though his visible eye is crinkled into a smile, his voice has a distinct edge to it.

The reason why makes its presence known straight away. Lord Danzo clears his throat and says, in a stilted tone, “It’s good to see you, Naruto.”

Her name sounds strange coming from his mouth, almost like a foreign word — because he rarely ever uses it. When he’s not putting up pretences in front of the Hokage or Kakashi, he always addresses her as _Jinchuuriki._

She turns to face him, taking in the uncomfortable sight of his bandage-wrapped body and the beady eye that watches her in thinly-veiled disdain, and gives him a slight nod. “And you, Lord Danzo.”

He narrows his visible eye at her. “You’re ready for the wedding, then?”

She’s about to respond when she senses Kakashi’s chakra shift slightly, the faintest crackle of lightning giving her goosebumps. She’s the only one who notices it: both her Uzumaki bloodline and years of learning to detect the slightest change in the Nine-Tails’ chakra within her has given a unique understanding of chakra control.

She can tell Kakashi is angry. He clearly disapproves of the marriage, of Danzo’s incessant meddling and control, and of Tsunade’s reluctant approval.

His reaction surprises her, but it fills her with immense relief. Uchiha Sasuke was his student, and she feared he’d be extremely enthusiastic about the whole thing. Instead, Kakashi is worried about her.

Naruto squeezes his hands in her own. She smiles at him gently, and doesn’t look at Danzo when she answers, “Yes, I am.”

“Good,” Danzo says sharply. He turns back to Tsunade, impatient. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Running late,” Tsunade answers with a shrug. She’s still watching Naruto carefully.

The way all three of them are ignoring Danzo makes the old man even more irritated. He storms off to talk to the ANBU soldiers, muttering under his breath.

Kakashi turns to face Naruto as soon as he’s gone. “If you want me to stop this, I will,” he tells her quietly. “Just say the word.”

“Kakashi—” Tsunade begins, speaking for the first time since Naruto walked in.

 _“No,”_ Kakashi snaps, turning on her. “This is wrong, Hokage-sama. With all due respect, how can you agree to this?”

“What would have happened if I said no?” Tsunade demands. 

She tries to keep her voice low so that Danzo can’t hear, but she sounds helpless. Naruto has never seen her like this, and the desperation in the older woman’s tone makes her feel scared. 

“They had decided on the matter long before they consulted me,” Tsunade continues. “She’s spent her entire lifetime locked away like some kind of animal. But at least now, Kakashi, she might not have to be alone anymore.”

Naruto stops herself from laughing out loud at the prospect that Uchiha Sasuke can make her feel any less alone.

Kakashi stares at Tsunade for a long moment. He exhales slowly, but says nothing.

Naruto is the one who breaks the heavy silence, because she can’t stand to see Kakashi worry about her, and she doesn’t want the first meeting she’s had with him in what feels like forever to be completely ruined.

“I won’t lie and pretend I’m excited about this whole thing,” she admits. “But Granny is right. The Council have made their mind up, and there’s not much we can do. I’m just glad I won’t be surrounded by these creeps any longer.”

She glances at Anzu and the other men, who are talking amongst themselves lazily. Leaving them behind, she realises, is probably the best thing she’s getting out of this entire arrangement.

Kakashi follows her gaze. Like Tsunade, he knows all the pain those men have caused Naruto over the past several years. He’s gotten it out of her in bits and pieces, each revelation angering him more than the last. But Kakashi is a shinobi of Konohagakure, loyal to his village until his very last breath, and he cannot — will not — challenge the will of the Council.

He clears his throat. “Sasuke can be…aloof, I know,” he begins, sighing when Naruto lets out a scoff at the understatement, “But he was my student for a long time. He won’t hurt you.”

“His job is the complete opposite of that, actually,” Tsunade adds, trying for a joke.

Naruto smiles in response, but it’s a weak one. Anzu’s words from earlier float to the front of her mind, but she forces herself to ignore them. _He won’t hurt you, he won’t hurt you._

“Maybe now we can spend more time together,” she tells Kakashi. 

His eye curves up into a warm smile, and she’s filled with relief at the sight. “Oh, absolutely. I’ll be coming over for dinner quite regularly. My favourite food is miso soup, just so you know.”

Naruto laughs. “I’ve never cooked a meal in my life. You think they’d trust me with _cooking utensils?”_

Kakashi tilts his head to the side, amused. “Well, you know, Sasuke is quite the chef—”

Naruto doesn’t get the chance to express her incredulity at his words, because the doors open with a loud slam. 

“Speak of the devil,” Kakashi says as Uchiha Sasuke marches in.

He’s wearing his black ANBU uniform, but has taken off his flak jacket and isn’t carrying his sword. There’s the same blank look on his face, but he pauses at the sight of Naruto, Tsunade and Kakashi standing together in the corner. 

Naruto digs her nails into her palms, heart pounding in apprehension. _This is it,_ she thinks.

But then Danzo turns to Sasuke with a deep scowl. “So, you’ve finally decided to grace us with your presence.”

Sasuke walks over to them. “There was a slight issue with some of the recruits,” he responds coolly. And then after a pause, he adds, “Lord Danzo.”

Danzo’s eye twitches. “You couldn’t even bother to change into something more appropriate. Or get a haircut.”

“Then I’d be even more late,” Sasuke shrugs, completely unaffected by his disapproval. 

They stare at one another for a long, silent moment, sheer dislike rippling from their chakra and filling the room. Something tells Naruto this is a common occurrence for the two, and that there’s a dark, untold history between them. She's envious of the defiance in Sasuke’s tone and his ability to stand his ground against someone as terrible as Danzo. 

Tsunade breaks the awkward silence by clapping her hands together. “Well, then. Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Yes,” Kakashi agrees, sounding like he’s watching a particularly amusing television show. He seems completely at ease with the scene in front of him, and his confidence makes Naruto feel a little better.

_Boring._ That’s the only way Naruto can describe her wedding. 

The priests spend thirty minutes officiating the ceremony, rambling on about what a blessed and auspicious occasion it is, making various declarations and proclamations about how Naruto and Sasuke are bound for life, loyal and faithful to each other for the rest of their days. 

Naruto tries not to roll her eyes at their words. She’s sitting next to Sasuke on the floor, the pair of them kneeling on big cushions facing the couch — which, it turns out, is reserved for the priests only. Naruto would feel annoyed, but they’re so old they look like they’re about to keel over at any second, so it’s probably for the best. 

“And so they will cherish each other as husband and wife…” the priests drone, and Naruto resists the urge to gag.

Discreetly, she turns her attention to Uchiha Sasuke. This close, she can notice some details about the man who is about to become her husband. He sits with his head low and his hands clasped in front of him. There’s a long scar on his hand, in the junction between his thumb and his index finger. He has the same faint smoke smell as Kakashi, as well as something softer she can’t quite put her finger on. 

For the entire ceremony, Sasuke sits as still as a statute. Naruto can’t help but fidget because she’s bored out of her mind, but when she shifts for the fifth time he gives her a side-long glare.

“Stop it,” he mutters. “Are you a child?”

Naruto stares at him, startled by his words. “I — oh, just shut up,” is all she can say, which is frustrating because it proves his point. 

Sasuke’s lip curls, and he turns away before he can see the dirty look she gives him. _Bastard,_ she thinks furiously. 

Thankfully, the priests’ rambling come to an end. They make Naruto and Sasuke hold hands as the last sentence is spoken. Reluctantly, Naruto holds her hand out. Sasuke hesitates before taking it in his. 

His hand is much bigger than hers, the skin of his palm is calloused from years of wielding a weapon, but he clasps her hand with surprising care. Naruto can’t take her eyes off the surreal sight of their fingers intertwined. When the priests finish speaking, Sasuke lets go of her immediately.

Then they drink from a small cup of sake, ordering them to press their lips against the same exact spot. Sasuke doesn’t seem to care and gulps down the sake like he’s in a bar, but Naruto grimaces as she takes a tiny sip of the bitter liquid.

And with that, they are officially married. 

Naruto exhales shakily as Danzo steps forward. He’s accompanied by the registrar, a kindly-looking man, and all he asks them to do is sign their names at the bottom of a single-page document. 

“Just to confirm all of the specifics,” he explains with a smile as Danzo quickly takes the pen and begins writing his name at the bottom. 

“Specifics,” Naruto repeats when she’s handed the paper. She starts reading it, eyes searching the paragraphs carefully. 

_Upon marriage, the Jinchuuriki agrees to relinquish her previous name and clan affiliation and will become Uchiha Naruto, bound to Uchiha clan laws and customs…_

“Ugh,” she mutters under her breath as she continues reading. They can force her to change her name and sign their bullshit paperwork, but she will always be Uzumaki Naruto. 

While she’s reading, Danzo excuses himself to reconvene with Anzu and the other guards. “I have an early start tomorrow. Congratulations, the two of you. Enjoy your evening.”

Naruto flushes as he walks away, wondering if he meant to imply anything with his words. It doesn’t help that the next paragraph she reads is about how _all children produced in this marriage will also bear the name Uchiha…_

She glances up at the door as Danzo and his men are walking out. Anzu, the last to leave the room, turns slightly and gives her a sarcastic smirk. He nods his head towards the man by her side. _The Uchiha is a harsh man,_ he’d sneered at her earlier. _I hope you’re ready._

Naruto forces herself not to react. She dips her head and resumes reading the paper in her hands. 

But she takes too long, apparently, because Sasuke kisses his teeth and orders, “Hurry up and give it to me so I can sign it.”

“Let me read,” Naruto snaps, still feeling on edge. “We’ve been married for twenty seconds and you’re already trying to boss me around.”

He falls silent, and she can tell he’s taken aback by her words. Naruto turns her focus back to the paper, but she can’t read with the weight of his gaze on her, heavy and piercing.

“It’s not like you can do anything,” he mutters eventually. “Not like either of us can do anything.”

Naruto shoves the paper and pen at him, stomach lurching with anger and disgust. “Take it.”

She storms off to join Kakashi and Tsunade by the door, making sure she doesn’t trip over her ridiculous, too-long kimono. They’re talking to each other quietly, also about to go now that the ceremony is over.

Naruto pauses as soon as they turn to her, trying to swallow down the fear blooming in her chest. She doesn’t them to leave. She doesn’t want the rest of her life with this man to begin.

“Everything alright?” Kakashi asks, sensing her discomfort.

Naruto crosses her arms and nods, trying to look casual. “Yeah. Just that jerk keeps telling me what to do.”

Tsunade puts a hand on her shoulder. “He spends all day telling people what to do. It’s his job, Naruto. It might take him a while to adjust.”

“I _know,”_ Naruto says, hating how petulant she sounds. “That doesn’t mean he has to…”

She trails off, not sure how to put into words the resentment she holds towards him, even though he’s just as frustrated by this entire affair. 

“I’m trying my best,” she mutters. “I invited him over so we could talk, like you suggested.”

“And?” the Hokage asks with a frown.

Naruto shrugs, rubbing at the back of her neck. She feels suddenly awkward under Kakashi and Tsunade’s careful gaze, and wonders if she should be mentioning this at all. 

“And…he made it very clear what he thinks of me,” she mumbles finally. She sees the deepening frown on Tsunade’s face and quickly adds, “Whatever. It’s not a big deal.”

“These things take time,” Tsunade insists, grip on her shoulder tightening a fraction.

Kakashi, though, doesn’t look impressed. Without a word, he walks away and makes his way over to Sasuke, who’s busy handing the paper back to the registrar. Suddenly terrified, Naruto wonders if he’s about to make a scene, and she desperately finds herself wishing she’d just kept her mouth shut. 

But Kakashi simply puts an arm around his former student’s shoulder and leads him away. Sasuke looks taken aback, expression quickly shifting into open annoyance as he’s escorted to a corner of the room.

Their backs are to Naruto and Tsunade as Kakashi speaks to him in a low murmur for just a few minutes. Then Kakashi leaves him and walks back to them briskly, hands shoved in his pockets, his posture the very definition of relaxed. 

Sasuke, though, takes a moment longer. He stands there, still not facing them, before he turns around and clears his throat. He looks unnerved, and Naruto finds herself filled with a perverse sense of glee at the sight. 

“If you need anything,” Kakashi says suddenly, interrupting her from her thoughts, “You let me know. Got it?” 

Naruto gives him a smile. It comes easier this time. “Got it.”

“Good. I’ll be seeing you soon, anyway.” He ruffles her hair fondly, unconcerned with her formal hairstyle, and she giggles under his touch. It’s been a long time he’s done that, and it makes her feel like a kid again.

And then Tsunade is shoving him out of the way and pulling Naruto in for a hug, whispering lowly about how she can also come to her if she needs anything, that she’ll also be seeing her soon, nothing will change—

“It’s not like you to be so sentimental, Granny,” Naruto says, pulling away with a cheeky smile. 

Tsunade rolls her eyes. “Don’t call me that, you insolent brat. I’m just looking out for you.”

“Yeah, well, thanks,” Naruto tells her. “Go home and get some rest. You need it in your old age.”

The Hokage growls and smacks her upside the head before walking out, followed by Kakashi, who tries his best to console her (but even he can’t keep the amused smile out of his voice). 

That leaves just Naruto and Sasuke alone in the building, standing around awkwardly.

They look at each other for a long, quiet moment. And then Sasuke walks past her, not meeting her gaze. “We should go,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets and rolling his shoulders. The action oddly reminds her of Kakashi.

He steps outside, leaving Naruto all alone. No guards, no _Anzu,_ lurking and watching her every move. It’s such a sharp contrast from the way she’s lived for as long as she can remember. It’s surreal, in an exhilarating but uncomfortable way, and she begins picking at the skin around her fingernails nervously. 

“Are you coming?” she hears Sasuke ask from outside, his tone slightly impatient. 

Naruto takes a deep breath. She lets her hands fall to her sides and follows her husband out the door.


	5. Sasuke

Living with the Jinchuuriki is difficult.

Sasuke has spent a lifetime alone, so he knows he won’t ever fully adjust to the situation. Still, he tries to make it as painless as possible.

He sets up a routine. He wakes up in the morning and cooks them both breakfast. He’s not a chef and he’s not a food aficionado, so his meals are simple. The Jinchuuriki doesn’t complain, which is a good thing.

“I actually don’t know how to cook,” she admits the morning after their wedding, looking rather embarrassed. 

Sasuke has been cooking for himself since he was nine years old. He can't remember the last time someone prepared a meal for him. He doesn’t tell her this, just puts a bowl of oatmeal in front of her before going to take a shower.

She still has to attend her classes in the mornings, so he escorts her to the ANBU building. He picks her up after lunch and takes her back home, sets up the apartment’s protective seals and goes back to work. 

In the evenings, he comes back and cooks dinner. Naruto eats at the dinner table while he sits on the couch and goes through any mission reports. Then she’ll go to her room for the night, and he’ll head over to the kitchen and prepare himself a plate.

Naruto watches him warily, staring so openly at him it makes him uncomfortable. Whenever he stands up, she freezes. When they’re near each other, she carries herself awkwardly, arms slightly crossed. 

They rarely speak to each other. He answers any questions she might have, about how to use the shower or the microwave. He doesn’t know what to say to her or how to strike up a conversation, so he doesn’t.

Sasuke is not perfect. He’s also not the most social person alive. He knows these facts better than anyone. 

But he puts a lot of effort into making it work. Really, he does. They both hate the arrangement, but Sasuke is a shinobi. He has years of experience in adjusting to difficult, uncomfortable situations.

The Jinchuuriki, it turns out, has little concern for his efforts. 

First of all, she talks too much. _Too much_ \- even though she's not talking to him. She mutters under her breath at odd intervals, but that doesn’t bother Sasuke too much: he’s come across a few shinobi with similar quirks, and she’s not saying anything about him. But then he soon realises she also talks to herself _loudly._

“You need to practise exercise seventy-three,” she’ll announce suddenly, clapping her hands together. 

Sasuke will stare at her from his place on the couch, thinking she’s addressing him until she continues, “Ebisu-sensei is going to kick your ass if you get it wrong again, Uzumaki…”

She also sings in the shower. It’s particularly painful because she _can’t_ sing. She doesn’t even sing real lyrics, just belts random melodies she comes up with herself. Sasuke remedies this by pounding on the wall with a fist and telling her to keep it down. Thankfully, it works, but only until the next shower. 

The Jinchuuriki is also unbearably messy. This is _by far_ the most infuriating thing. 

He hasn’t been in her bedroom yet, but he’s certain it’s a pigsty, judging by how she acts in the rest of the house: she leaves dishes and cutlery everywhere, eats and drinks straight out of jars and cartons, shoves all of the laundry into the washing machine in one go (after leaving it on a chair for almost an entire week), and forgets to rearrange the couch cushions when she goes to bed. 

Even more frustratingly, she doesn’t bother tidying up her scrolls once the lesson is done — she just leaves them there, sometimes fully open, right on the dinner table. Her behaviour is entirely too chaotic, and it makes Sasuke’s skin itch. 

“Well,” she says when he tersely mentions it to her, “this place is really small. I’m used to having a lot of space, so even if I’m messy it’s not that obvious. But I really don't think I'm _that_ messy, though...”

“I’m sorry if this place isn’t big enough for you, princess,” Sasuke snaps, annoyed by her excuse. “I’ll ask the Council to move us into a mansion.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Naruto begins, but he’s already walking away. 

He tries to be patient, especially since Kakashi’s warning is still ringing in his ears. The man had taken him aside at the wedding and explained to him, rather explicitly, all of the violent things he would do to Sasuke if he hurt Naruto in any way, shape or form.

“I might be an old man now, but I can still make you cry,” Kakashi had told him casually.

Sasuke knows the man wasn’t lying. So, he tries to be patient. But before long, he begins to lose his temper, especially since Naruto seems completely unbothered by his words.

“I’m not your fucking servant,” he snaps as he picks up her long-forgotten plate from the table for the millionth time. “Clean up after yourself.” 

The words make her blink in surprise, but then she sneers and snatches the plate from him, going over to wash it in the sink. “So _dramatic._ It’s just a plate.”

“Use the dishwashing soap, idiot,” he snarls at her in response.

She also spends too much time hogging the bathroom. It’s a petty thing to get annoyed over, but Sasuke spends every day working through gruelling exercises and missions. He doesn’t feel at ease until he’s had a shower and worked the grime off his body. The last thing he wants when he comes home is to wait thirty minutes for the Jinchuuriki to get out of the bathroom. 

But when he tells her this, she seems baffled. “I’ve always had a bathroom to myself,” she mumbles as she runs a towel through her hair. The water makes it darker, he's realised. 

He's also realised that most of Naruto's clothes are made of extremely thin fabric for some reason, even though it's winter. They're loose enough to cover her up most of the time, but when her skin is wet - as it is now, fresh out of the shower - the outline of her full breasts and her nipples are obscenely visible. The sight always makes Sasuke's mouth dry, and he forces himself to look away.

Ever-oblivious, Naruto has no idea. He's not about to bring it up to her either - Kakashi's warning also included a terrifying clause about behaving inappropriately with his beloved sensei's daughter. Sasuke is fairly certain letting her know he can see her breasts would be considered _inappropriate._

Naruto quickly comes up with a solution that sounds good to her own ears. “Aren't there showers in the ANBU headquarters you could use?”

“I’m allowed to use the shower in my own fucking house,” Sasuke snaps, slamming the bathroom door in her face. He resists the urge to punch the wall when he realises she’s used up all the hot water again.

The first two weeks are full of such arguments. Sasuke will tell her, in the clearest way possible, what she is doing wrong and to stop doing it. She will either respond with an excuse of some kind, or will insist that she hasn’t done anything wrong at all. Both sides of the arguments are soon littered with various insults. Sasuke nearly always ends the argument by walking away, jaw clenched and eye twitching in anger. 

He’d initially been horrified at the prospect of Kakashi coming over to his apartment for visits, but now he realises it would probably be useful. It would help diffuse the building tension, and it would also stop him from barking out some of the harsher insults he's sent her way. But the man had left on a mission two days after the wedding and wouldn't be coming back for a few weeks. 

However, things change by the second week. 

Naruto begins spending more and more time in her bedroom, as he doesn’t find her sprawled out on the couch when he comes back from work as he usually does. She stops singing in the shower entirely. Her responses to his comments also change and become more muted and withdrawn, as though she doesn’t have enough energy to respond. 

“Are you sick?” he asks from the couch after a few days of her strange behaviour.

She blinks at him, looking exhausted. She’s sitting at the dinner table with a plate of rice he prepared. She pushes the rice around with her fork. “No.”

He goes back to his book, unsure of what to say in response. She’s not unwell, but she’s still got bags under her eyes, as though she hasn’t been sleeping properly.

“Is Kakashi coming over soon?” Naruto asks suddenly.

Sasuke shrugs as he turns another a page. He’s read this one before, and it’s not very interesting. “I told you, he's on a mission. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

Naruto falls silent. A few minutes later, she gets up from the table and begins making her way to her room.

Sasuke gets up from the couch and walks over to the table. He snatches up the plate with a scowl, muttering, “How many times do I have to tell you—” 

Wordlessly, Naruto takes the plate from his hands. She dumps the rice in the bin, washes it and puts it away, and disappears to her bedroom. Sasuke blinks at her shut bedroom door, bewildered. 

He goes to bed a while later. Later that night, he hears her shuffling around the living room. 

In the morning, Sasuke finds Naruto curled up and fast asleep on the couch. She's covered in an old orange blanket. The sight is so surprising he doesn’t get angry when he realises she’s drooling on his favourite cushion.

Naruto doesn’t look embarrassed when she wakes up a few moments later to the sound of him preparing breakfast. She doesn’t eat a bite, and still looks exhausted half an hour later as she waits by the door for him to put his boots on. 

She’s silent the entire walk to ANBU HQ, staring distractedly at the ground as she walks. Sasuke keeps eyeing her warily, unsettled by the change in her behaviour.

“Are you sick?” he blurts out as the guards approach, ready to take her to her morning classes. “For the past few days you've been…” he trails off, gesturing towards her vaguely. 

Naruto looks at him blankly. Then she shakes her head and walks away.

This carries on for a week and a half: Naruto, sullen and withdrawn, sleeping only on the couch in the living room; Sasuke, unsure of how to respond. She begins oversleeping in the mornings, taking more and more time to get ready, even though her routine is always very simple.

Sasuke stops feeling concerned and starts feeling frustrated. He knows it’s the wrong response to have to her behaviour, but he can’t help it. He hates being late. But what he hates even more is being left out of the loop and not knowing what’s going on. 

“Hurry up,” he tells her one morning, glancing outside the window. It’s a surprisingly bright and warm day, even though it’s winter. “We’re already late.”

Naruto pauses in putting her boots on. “Go without me, then. I’ll stay at home.”

Sasuke stares at her. “You said you’re not sick.”

“I’m not,” Naruto responds, rubbing at her eyes. “I just don’t feel like going.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Sasuke snaps impatiently. “Look, just finish putting your shoes on so we can go.”

But Naruto is already glancing at the couch. Half of her quilt is on the floor. “I don’t want to.”

Sasuke runs a hand through his hair, trying to control his temper. “I don’t want to deal with your bullshit right now. We’re late enough as it is. Put your fucking shoes on so—”

“I said, _I don’t fucking want to,_ ” Naruto snaps, shoving him in the chest hard.

Sasuke doesn’t move an inch. He glares down at her, not bothering to tone done his chakra and how it suddenly flares up to match the fury rising in his chest. 

Naruto immediately takes a step back, hands quickly forming into fists — but not quickly enough to hide the way they’re trembling. Sasuke recognises the look in her eyes at once: fear.

He freezes at the sight, wrestling down his chakra almost desperately, but it’s too late. Naruto takes another shaky step back, then another, before she spins on her heel and runs away to the safety of her bedroom. She slams the door so loudly it makes him flinch.

 _You piece of shit, Uchiha,_ he thinks to himself angrily. He storms out of the house seconds later, making his way to the ANBU building as soon as the seals are set in place. He has a long day ahead of him - but first, he needs to come up with an excuse for Naruto’s absence.

Sasuke is so unnerved by the event that he approaches Shikamaru at the end of the day. The man is sitting on a bench in the smoking area outside ANBU Headquarters, puffing on a cigarette lazily.

“This is new,” he remarks. “You’re actually coming to me for advice.”

“It’s fucked up,” Sasuke says, settling down on the bench next to him. “This whole situation is fucked up.”

Shikamaru takes another lazy puff. “Well, spit it out.”

He seems to regret his words a few minutes later, when Sasuke finishes explaining what’s going on with the Jinchuuriki. “Wait, she’s locked up all day?”

“What? No. I told you, I drop her off at her classes in the morning, and then I escort her home after lunch.” Sasuke glances at the big clock tower and frowns. “Usually around this time.”

“And then what?” Shikamaru asks. “What about when you get home at night?”

Sasuke frowns. “It’s usually late. I eat dinner. I read a book or do some work. Then I go to bed.”

“You don’t _talk_ to her?” Shikamaru inquires. 

“Of course I do,” Sasuke says. “I’m always telling her to clean up after herself. But like I said, nowadays she’s just in her room and sulking all the time."

Shikamaru stares at him, utterly bemused. “So let me get this straight.You keep her locked up in that house for most of the day and you tell her off as soon as you get home. You don’t bother talking to her or having a normal conversation with her, either.”

“What the hell would I want to talk to her about?” Sasuke demands. 

Shikamaru shakes his head. “She’s not a prisoner, Sasuke. She’s probably just miserable. Seriously, man, what’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with _you?”_ Sasuke snaps. “Have you forgotten she’s the Jinchuuriki? She’s been locked up all these years under Danzo’s orders. This is what her life is like.”

“What it _was_ like,” Shikamaru corrects, taking a tired drag of his cigarette. He’s still staring at Sasuke as though he’s a complete idiot. “You’re responsible for her safety now. You don’t have to follow in Danzo’s footsteps.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrow. “What do you want me to do? She’s totally untrained as a shinobi. As much as I want her out of my way, if she goes outside she’ll get herself captured or killed. Gee, I wonder how the Council will react to that. Maybe I’ll get a fucking promotion.”

Shikamaru gives him a smirk, mock-apologetic. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot I was talking to Uchiha Sasuke, who sees being a good person as a chore.”

“Guilt-trip me all you want, Nara,” Sasuke mutters. “I’m not taking any risks.”

Even though the man is just teasing him, the implication that he’s not a good person is unsettling. He thinks of the fear in Naruto’s eyes this morning, how she’d looked at him as though he would truly hurt her. 

_I wouldn’t,_ he finds himself thinking defensively. _It was a mistake, that’s all._

“I’m just saying,” Shikamaru tells him. “Her behaviour isn’t really a surprise. She’s probably still adjusting to her new surroundings. Picking fights and treating her like an annoying pet animal won’t make her feel better.”

“I don’t treat her like that,” Sasuke snaps. “It’s not a crime for me to want my home to be clean and tidy. And if anyone’s to blame, it’s the asshole Council members who thought making her live this way was the right thing to do.” 

Shikamaru sighs, rolling his shoulders. “We’ve been over this already, Uchiha. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to her. I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m talking to a brick wall.”

Sasuke forces himself to stay quiet. He's _tried_ to be nice. It's not his fault it's so fucking hard. 

Thankfully, Shikamaru breaks the tense silence a moment later. "Her lessons are in sealing, you say? And genjutsu?”

“Genjutsu detection,” Sasuke corrects. “And yes, sealing.” He recalls the frown on Naruto’s face as she’d stepped into their shared home for the first time, eyes scanning the protection seals curiously. 

“As expected of a Jinchuuriki,” Shikamaru mumbles. “You know, I don’t understand why they didn’t let her become a shinobi. It could’ve been useful for us in the long run. Some of the villages lock their Jinchuuriki up, sure, but there are others born and bred for battle. Like the Kazekage’s son, who’s a total monster. And the Raikage’s brother.”

Sasuke hums. It is strange, now that he’s mentioned it. “Konoha always does things differently.”

“And we’re not allowed to ask why,” Shikamaru sighs. He leans back against the wall, head tipped up so it’s staring at the sky above. They fall silent after that, both distracted by their own thoughts. 

The more he dwells on it, the more unnerved Sasuke feels. There’s truth to Shikamaru’s words — too much of it. He thought years of experience would have desensitised Naruto to spending so much time indoors (or being _locked up_ — as annoying as the phrase is, it’s still true), but moving into a new home has probably unsettled her completely. 

He thinks of her sleeping on the couch, curled up in an old quilt; the blank look on her face as she pushes her dinner around her plate night after night; the dark circles under her previously bright-blue eyes as she watches him check the house’s protective seals before setting off for work in the morning.

It’s such a far cry from how she presented herself at their very first meeting, _and_ the second. Even in the first two weeks of their marriage, despite how downright annoying she was in her wariness and loudness, she’d still flitted around the house with plenty of energy. 

Sasuke exhales his cigarette smoke slowly, brow furrowed as he tries to make sense of it. 

He remembers being a child shortly after the downfall of his clan. Once the grief and pain and anguish crystallised in his chest, he’d felt empty. He stopped crying himself to sleep and waking up trembling violently from nightmares. He stopped lashing out at classmates and teachers and even civilians if they so much as uttered the name of his family. He stopped speaking during his weekly meetings with the Third Hokage, and then stopped attending them altogether. 

He’d moved through life on auto-pilot for the years to follow, unaware that there was a term for the unyielding emptiness he felt in his very soul until he’d explained his symptoms and been diagnosed by Tsunade herself.

“Depression,” she’d told him, hazel eyes full of sympathy. “Not a surprise, considering your background.”

Moving into a new home with a stranger has made Sasuke feel constantly on-edge, not depressed. But then again, he’s a shinobi, trained for the battlefield. Uzumaki Naruto is nothing of the sort.

Sasuke knows he can be impatient and harsh with people — even Shikamaru tires of him sometimes — but he didn’t think his behaviour would add to her turmoil so significantly.

With a jolt, he realises he feels _guilty._ It’s the same sickly feeling he had after bedding that barmaid the week before his wedding, except this time it’s more intense - and more deserved.

“I should get going,” he mutters suddenly, putting out his own barely-touched cigarette and rising to his feet.

Shikamaru hums, not taking his eyes off the clouds above. “Have a good night.”

Sasuke walks away, hands shoved in his pockets. He keeps his head down, wondering what his next steps should be. 

The whole situation is his fault. Kakashi isn’t here to keep him on his toes, and he’s been busier with work than usual, but there is no excuse for his actions. His mother — his _clan_ — raised him better than to treat someone like this. The thought makes his chakra spark in agitation, and a few passing chuunin pause to stare at him nervously. 

Sasuke arrives at the Hokage’s office in a matter of minutes. He knows he must look a sight to everyone he passes: chakra spiking, boots kicking up dust and face settled into a deep scowl. The guards at the door don’t even bother asking him to wait, just stand aside to let him in.

Tsunade is sitting at her desk, busy doing paperwork. He wonders, briefly, why anyone would ever want to be Hokage if all it entails is signing a bunch of papers everyday. But he straightens up into a salute as she looks up, eyes wide.

“ANBU,” Tsunade says, surprised. “What’s the matter?”

“Your beloved Jinchuuriki is fucking miserable, and it’s making _me_ miserable,” Sasuke blurts out, and he almost winces as soon as he’s said the words. If Kakashi were here, he’d be getting a smack upside the head for expressing himself so poorly. 

Tsunade pauses. She puts her pen down and clasps her hands together under her chin. “Sit.”

Sasuke does as he is told. He then proceeds to explain, with great difficulty, what exactly the situation is. The Hokage is patient throughout it all, even though her lips are twisted into an unhappy frown. 

“The plan _was_ to let her become a shinobi,” Tsunade admits, voice quiet. “But Lord Danzo did not approve.”

The mention of the Councilman’s name is almost enough to make Sasuke’s chakra spike again. 

“He didn’t want her to become a shinobi?” he says.

Tsunade shakes her head. “On the contrary. He wanted to make her into the perfect weapon. He demanded full responsibility of her training, insisting it was necessary for Konoha’s protection in the wars to come.”

“Just like the Kazekage,” Sasuke mutters. 

“Yes. But the Third Hokage refused,” Tsunade continues. “There were no wars on the horizon, and he secretly suspected Danzo would use Naruto to _start_ one. The man has always had a disturbing interest in expanding Konohagakure’s powers. But Sarutobi-sensei knew Naruto’s parents personally, and he would not let such a thing happen to their child. He stopped Danzo from getting his way. It was his last act as leader of this village.”

Sasuke leans back in his chair, exhaling slowly. He has so many questions he doesn’t know where to begin. 

“So then what?” he says finally. “Danzo didn’t get his way, so he locked her up like something out of a fairy tale? Out of sheer pettiness?”

“We both know pettiness isn’t beneath Lord Danzo,” Tsunade tells him, smiling humourlessly. “I urged him to reconsider and to let Naruto become a shinobi. She has plenty of potential, and the demon’s chakra would be an incredible help. But he refused.”

Sasuke imagines it, shaking his head in disbelief. In another life, Naruto could have attended the Academy. They're the same age, so she would have been his year. She could have graduated alongside him, received a headband in the same ceremony. She might have even been put on the same team as him, right under Kakashi’s watchful gaze. But she wasn’t.

“In the interval between Sarutobi-sensei’s passing and my coronation as Hokage, Danzo assumed control,” Tsunade continues. “He spun a tale for the Council, warning them of threats to the village in the midst of its political instability. He insisted that locking up the Jinchuuriki would be the wisest thing to do. And they agreed.”

Tsunade looks up. Her gaze on him is suddenly sharp, and Sasuke straightens up in his seat instinctively. He knows that whatever they discuss is not to leave this room. “I have always had my own theory,” she tells him in a low voice. “That perhaps, by continuously mistreating her, Danzo sought to make Naruto lose control of the Nine Tails.”

Sasuke inhales sharply. “So he could use that as an excuse to gain full control of her.”

Tsunade nods once. “I tried to undermine this as much as I could. The best sealing masters in the world to teach her how to secure the demon herself. A daily routine for a sense of normalcy. Regular visits from myself and — when possible — Kakashi, so she could know kinship.” 

The Hokage closes her eyes, letting out a small sigh of resignation. “And I thought this marriage would help, too. But instead, you tell me she’s _miserable.”_

Sasuke resists the urge to swallow under her heavy gaze.

“Depression isn’t always caused by the actions of someone else,” Tsunade tells him. “But don’t you think you might be to blame, even if just a little?”

He doesn’t need to open his mouth to respond. They both know the answer. 

Sasuke clears his throat. He hates what he’s about to say, but it must be said. There aren’t many secrets between him and Tsunade, anyway. 

“I don’t know what to do,” he admits in a low mutter. “I’ve lived alone my entire life. Having another person in my home is fucking with me.” 

He shakes his head with a frown, recalling once again the way Naruto had looked at him in the morning, blue eyes filled with pure fear. The memory makes him feel slightly sick. “I'm a shinobi. And I know I’m not the most social person,” he hears himself say, voice small, “but I’m not —I don’t _hurt_ people. I’m not my brother.”

He shuts his mouth before he can say anything more. Tsunade stares at him, but he can’t bring himself to meet her gaze. There’s a long, heavy silence in the room for several moments. All the while, Sasuke keeps his eyes fixed on his boots, wishing he hadn't said anything at all.

“Sasuke,” Tsunade says finally. “Look at me.”

Reluctantly, he looks up at his Hokage. Her hazel eyes are bright, bottom lip trembling.

“You are _not_ your brother,” she repeats firmly, and the words nearly make him flinch. “You are a good man. I trusted you with Naruto _because_ you are a good man, and because I trust you. The root of this issue is—”

She falls silent, brow furrowed in thought. Sasuke waits, patiently, refusing to let her words sink in, because how can a good man cause someone else so much pain? How different is he, really—

“ANBU,” Tsunade barks. “I have a mission for you.”

Sasuke rises to his feet at once, surprised and relieved by the sudden change in topic. He didn’t find any satisfactory answers, but he’s glad he’s finally about to be excused. He’s said too much already. “Hokage-sama.”

“You're going to teach her,” Tsunade says.

Sasuke stares at her, bewildered, as he tries to make sense of her words. “What?” 

“Teach Naruto how to fight,” Tsunade says again. She leans back in her seat and begins to explain. “How to defend herself. You’re the most powerful shinobi in this village, Uchiha. It’s not exactly a secret. If you teach her the foundational aspects of being a shinobi, she can add that to her arsenal of fuinjutsu and genjutsu. And then she won’t have to stay locked up inside that house all day.”

“I — _What?”_ Sasuke says again. “This job takes up all my time as it is. I’m not trying to take on another role as babysitter.”

“I can relieve you of some of your ANBU duties,” Tsunade says calmly, as though she isn’t suggesting one of her wildest ideas yet. 

Sasuke sits down, running a hand through his hair. “You think the Council will approve? And Danzo?”

“They signed off responsibility of Naruto’s care over to you,” Tsunade responds. She’s got a scary glint in her eye. “No take-backs. You spend all day teaching your recruits, ANBU. Is this really going to be such a challenge?”

The tone in her voice is teasing, but it makes him scowl anyway. “Why me? Why not Kakashi? He’s a real teacher.”

“Kakashi adores the brat,” Tsunade scoffs. “He won’t take the lessons seriously enough, I fear. And also, to be quite frank, I think _you_ can learn a lot from this.”

“How to be a good person, you mean,” Sasuke mutters.

“Stop fishing for compliments,” Tsunade snaps at him. “You _are_ a good person. But that doesn’t mean you’re not an antisocial, scary, mean —”

“I get it,” Sasuke snarls. “Fine. I’ll teach her. But like you said, Hokage-sama, I teach recruits. _ANBU_ recruits. They don’t cry or whine when I’m mean to them.”

“Naruto will not cry or whine,” Tsunade laughs. “My goodness, boy, you really don’t know a thing about the woman you married.”

Sasuke leans back in his chair with a scowl, listening on as she sets out a loose outline of what she wants him to teach her. It doesn’t sound too preposterous or time-consuming. The Hokage doesn’t object when Sasuke insists that he won’t go easy on her, but she does remind him that Naruto hasn’t received any formal shinobi training whatsoever, so she will naturally be far below the average ANBU recruit.

“I know that much,” Sasuke grumbles. He still can't believe he's agreeing to this. “I wasn’t about to make her run fifty laps around the village. Where is this training supposed to take place, anyway?”

“You can book any training ground of your choice,” Tsunade says. “I can give you a hand in that regard. You can also use the forest near your house. That might provide better privacy.”

Sasuke hums. “You think the Council might intervene if they find out?”

“They can try,” Tsunade says. “I won’t let them. You know, the more I think about it, the more outraged I get. They’ve handled this matter so poorly, Minato and Kushina must be spinning in their graves.”

“Minato?” Sasuke repeats with a frown. “Kushina?”

“Naruto’s parents,” the Hokage explains. Her tone is fond. “They loved her dearly.”

Sasuke can tell the Hokage is still grieving their loss to this day. He knows what that's like. He clears his throat, trying to push away the memory of his own parents. 

“I’ll do it,” he says. “But if it doesn’t work out, don’t blame me. And if the Council find out, don’t blame me.”

“Very well,” Tsunade agrees. 

Sasuke rises to his feet with a sigh, giving her a lazy salute that would get him in trouble on any other day. He turns around and is about to walk away when the Hokage stops him.

“Sasuke,” she says suddenly. When he turns back to face her, she adds, “Thank you.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Naruto has wanted this for a very long time,” Tsunade admits. “I’m glad I can finally help make it happen, even if the circumstances are less than ideal.”

Sasuke watches her carefully. This is his Hokage — a woman endlessly devoted to her village and the people she cares about, a woman who refuses to yield in the face of injustice and cruelty.

He dips his head. “Hokage-sama,” he says, before he walks off.

Sasuke realises something is wrong as soon as he’s outside his apartment building. The thrumming of chakra from his protective seals is totally gone. And if he focuses, he can sense the Jinchuuriki’s chakra has also disappeared.

“Shit,” he mutters, and immediately mutes his own chakra trace. 

Sasuke makes his way up the building stairs and into the apartment. He immediately sees the back door that leads to the garden area is wide open, but he forces himself to still. He focuses, walking slowly to the door and letting the rest of the world fall away.

Gradually, Naruto’s chakra emerges. It’s faint but not too far away, in the wide expanse of the forest connected to the garden. _What the fuck are you doing out there,_ Sasuke thinks to himself.

He disappears in a swirl of leaves, reappearing at the very edge of the forest. Here, her chakra is even clearer. Not strong enough to be detected by the average shinobi, but he can easily sense it, warm and steady.

Sasuke quickly makes his way through the forest, making sure his chakra and the sound of his footesteps are completely muted. He finds Naruto in a few seconds, crouching down between bushes to try and see if she’s being captured so he can plan his mode of attack.

But instead, Naruto is simply standing under a big oak tree. She has one arm outstretched, reaching out for a squirrel perched on a branch, and is making quiet noises to lure it closer to her.

 _What the fuck,_ Sasuke thinks again. He’s filled with such sudden, violent rage that even though he’s muted his chakra trace, Naruto senses the almost undetectable spike and spins around with wide eyes and exclaims, “What—”

Sasuke bites down a growl, pulling a shuriken out of his pouch and tosses it. It connects with the tree trunk less than a foot away from where Naruto is standing. Naruto lets out a shriek and jumps back wildly.

Sasuke scowls, stepping out from behind the bushes. “What the _fuck_ are you doing?”

Naruto gasps again. “It’s you,” she cries, expression shifting into one of horror and disbelief. “I — what are _you_ doing?”

“If an enemy shinobi found you here, you’d be dead,” Sasuke growls. He steps towards her, irritation growing as she stumbles backwards. “You sneak out and start frolicking around the woods like a moron. Why? Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?”

She bites her lip, looking guilty. She opens her mouth to respond, but he’s too furious, still reeling from the terror he’d felt when he thought she’d been taken. He reaches for her, grabbing her wrist and giving it a shake. 

“Your chakra wasn’t even properly hidden,” Sasuke snaps at her. 

“I wasn’t _trying_ to hide!” Naruto shouts. “I’ve only been out here for a few minutes. I just wanted some fresh air, okay? Is that such a crime?”

She yanks her wrist back furiously, rubbing at the skin. He’d gripped her tight, maybe tight enough to bruise, and the thought makes Sasuke take a step back, his stomach churning.

“I just wanted some fresh air,” she repeats again, staring at the ground. “You didn’t come back at the usual time, so I thought I could…” she trails off. She sounds exactly the way Shikamaru had described her: miserable.

Sasuke takes another step back, exhaling slowly. He can’t stop staring at the skin of her wrist. “I’m sorry,” he says.

Naruto looks up at him sharply. “What?”

He gestures towards her wrist, and she glances down at the skin there. She gives it another rub. “It’s fine," she mumbles eventually. "I don’t bruise easily.”

It’s not fine. None of this is fine. Sasuke is filled with such self-loathing it almost knocks him off his feet. He wishes Kakashi were here, even if just to kick his ass for not heeding his warning and for being so cruel to the daughter of his sensei. At least the man would know what to do and how to fix this.

 _But Kakashi isn't here,_ Sasuke tells himself furiously. _So fix this._

“I went to see the Hokage,” he tells Naruto. “That’s why I was late.”

“Oh,” she says. She scratches at the skin of her wrist, still looking at him nervously. 

Sasuke takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to teach you how to fight.”

Naruto’s eyes widen in disbelief, and she begins spluttering wildly. “You — what? Teach _me?”_

“Yes,” he says. “So then I won’t…” He gestures towards her wrist again. “…when I come home and don’t find you there.”

Naruto just stares at him with those big blue eyes, without the slightest bit of anger in her gaze. 

“Get up,” Sasuke orders, and is relieved when she immediately scrambles to her feet. He marches over to the tree and yanks out the shuriken. He returns to Naruto’s side and offers it to her, carefully placing it between her hands when she hesitates.

“Throw,” he commands, taking a step back. “At the exact same spot I hit, if you can.”

Naruto eyes the shuriken in her hands as though it were an explosive tag. “Are you sure?”

He remembers she’s never used a shuriken before, and has never been trusted with weapons of any kind. Her reaction is unsurprising, but he still dislikes the uncertainty in her voice. _That won’t do._

“Throw,” he tells her again.

Naruto glances at the tree and then back at him, still wary. After a long pause, she throws the shuriken with a great amount of force — and little consideration. It misses the tree completely.

“You didn’t even aim,” Sasuke remarks. “What the fuck was that?”

Naruto’s cheeks are flushed in embarrassment, but she tries for an awkward smile. “My bad,” she says. “Maybe I can try again—”

Sasuke shakes his head quickly, and she falls silent, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt in discomfort. He eyes her for a moment before saying, “Get into your best fighting stance.”

Naruto blinks, but she’s quicker on the uptake this time, adjusting her limbs into what she thinks is the most appropriate stance. “Like this?”

He analyses her form, just as he would for any of his recruits. Her stance is all wrong, of course — her body is still open to attack, and a good shove will easily knock her off her feet. 

But she’s in good shape, from what he can see. She’ll need to build some more muscle, and he’ll have to teach her how to stand like a real shinobi before he even thinks about handing her a weapon of any kind. 

He’s silent for so long that Naruto turns red again, uncomfortable under his watchful gaze. She probably doesn't know why he's looking at her so intensely and must suspect he's some kind of pervert. Sasuke takes a step back, hoping this is the first time she's caught him staring.

“We’ll start tomorrow,” he tells her. “First thing after sunrise.”

“Sunrise?” Naruto repeats. “But…won’t I be tired when I go to my classes?”

“For the first few weeks, maybe,” Sasuke shrugs. “You’ll get used to it. And I’ll give you some exercises to do in the afternoon so your body can adjust.”

Naruto nods. She still looks a little dazed, as though she can’t believe what’s happening. The glazed-over look in her eyes annoys him, reminds him of when he’d drift off during lessons with Kakashi — only for the man to smack him upside the head and bark, _a shinobi doesn’t get distracted._

“First things first,” Sasuke snaps, and she straightens up at once. “This is my job. I do this for a living, so I know what I’m talking about. You will not question my authority.”

Naruto stares at him before giving a firm nod. She’s gripping the bottom of her shirt, fists clenched so tight they’ve gone red. 

“If you find something difficult, let me know and I will explain it or demonstrate it again. If you have any questions, just ask,” Sasuke continues. 

“Even if it’s something stupid?” she asks, looking rather suspicious. "You won't call me a moron or an idiot or-"

“No such thing as a stupid question,” Sasuke interrupts, and he’s surprised by how much he sounds like Kakashi even to his own ears. “And no, I won't call you that. You’ll have to work hard, though.”

“I will,” Naruto insists, the words coming out a little breathlessly. “I swear, I’m going to work so hard, I’ll be on time, I won’t complain, I promise.”

He grunts, not sure what to say to that. Naruto’s not done, however. She takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself. 

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she begins, waving her hands around wildly. “I never, ever, _ever_ in a million trillion years thought I’d ever be able to become a shinobi. I’ve never even handled a shuriken before, or a kunai! You think they’ll let me go on missions someday? Do the Council know about this? Does the Hokage? Wait, do I have to call you sensei now? Sasuke-sensei? _Uchiha-sensei?”_

“Shut it,” Sasuke snarls, and she falls silent at once. “Learn to stop speaking so much. Or at least develop an inside voice.”

“We’re outside, though,” Naruto mutters, shutting up again when he glares at her.

“This was the Hokage’s idea,” Sasuke continues. “The Council don’t know, so keep this to yourself for now. I have no idea about missions. And no, don’t call me sensei.” 

He’s never been called sensei, and he doesn't want to be called it now. He never even used the word for Kakashi, which the older man always found slightly irritating. 

“Okay, okay,” Naruto says quickly. “Not sensei. That’s fine.”

She falls silent and looks at him. Sasuke is taken aback by the brightness of her eyes, which are startlingly blue even in the dark of the forest. It suits her far more than the muted dullness he’s seen in them over the past few weeks. 

“And don’t sneak out again,” he mutters, uncomfortable by the thought as well as the earnestness on her face. “How did you even get past the seals?”

Naruto shrugs, glancing around. The forest is quiet, growing darker by the minute, but she looks completely comfortable. “It wasn’t that hard.”

Sasuke scoffs. He turns around and begins marching back to their home, briskly making his way back through the shared garden area. “Not good enough for the seals-master Jinchuuriki?”

Naruto catches up to him quickly. He glances at her from the corner of his eye as they take the stairs, and is surprised by the expression on her face.

“Naruto,” she tells him, and there’s an anger to her voice despite the quietness of her words. “My name is Naruto. Not _Jinchuuriki.”_

Sasuke stops in his tracks and stares at her, surprised by the guilt he feels in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t meant it maliciously, but that doesn’t matter. 

Naruto stares right back at him, unafraid to meet his gaze this time. Her nostrils are slightly flared in anger, and there’s a stubborn set to her jaw.

 _Good,_ Sasuke finds himself thinking. 

But he says nothing, just opens the door and his way into the apartment. As soon as they’re inside and the door is closed, Naruto seems to deflate. She looks around awkwardly, rubbing at her arm. 

“Thank you,” she mumbles after a while. “For teaching me. Or agreeing to teach me, I guess.”

Sasuke’s been thanked twice today, but he's still not used to hearing the words and isn’t sure how to respond properly. So he just clears his throat and nods. “Be ready at sunrise,” he tells her, and quickly makes his way to the quiet privacy of his own bedroom. 

Just before sunrise, Sasuke gets out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom, letting out an ear-splitting yawn as he does. He’s surprised to find Naruto already awake, sitting up on the couch and staring at him with those bright eyes, one boot already on.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she blurts out, looking almost guilty. She’s dressed in her most practical clothes: dark pants and a long-sleeved jacket that actually fits. Her blonde hair is tied up in a ponytail.

“Too excited?” Sasuke says. He knows the feeling. The night before his first lesson with Kakashi he hadn’t slept a wink, too thrilled by the prospect of having the legendary Copy-Nin as his sensei.

Naruto flushes but nods. “Yeah.”

He eyes her carefully as she resumes putting on her boots. His thoughts are always less organised first thing in the morning, so his mind quickly begins to stray. 

Naruto looks slimmer than usual since she lost weight, but there’s no denying the way the way her breasts push against the material of her jacket as she leans down. Sasuke's eyes drift down, focusing on the smooth column of the back of her neck, visible now that her hair is tied up. Even in winter, her skin is still tanned. 

His gut clenches at the sight, and he quickly clears his throat. _Get it together, Uchiha._ He is a man, after all, and he can appreciate a good figure when he sees one. It’s been a few weeks since he’s gotten laid; he must be more pent-up than he expected.

“Let’s see how long that lasts,” he tells her finally, ignoring the funny feeling in his belly when she looks up at him with a smile.

Traitorous, _dangerous_ thoughts aside, he’s relieved he managed to fix the situation somewhat. He feels nothing for Naruto, but he’s glad she looks more like her former self now.

“If I knew kicking your ass was going to cheer you up, I would’ve done it sooner,” Sasuke adds over his shoulder as he walks to the bathroom. 

“Ha, ha,” Naruto says sarcastically. “Hilarious. Now, will you hurry up? We’ve barely got two hours left until my class, and since I already took yesterday off I don’t want to get into trouble…”

She carries on rambling to herself the entire time he’s in the shower, standing outside the door and talking so loudly he can hear her over the water. As annoying as the sound is, he finds it doesn’t piss him off as much as it used to.


	6. Naruto

“Pay attention!” Yuki barks.

Naruto flinches as the man claps his hands together, interrupting her from her daydreams. “Sorry," she mumbles, and scrambles to flip the page of her textbook. 

“You've been too distracted lately," the man states, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “What's on your mind, hmm?”

Naruto keeps her eyes on the page in front of her. Today's lesson is mostly revision, so they're going over previous material. “I’m bored. This is boring.”

Yuki tuts in disapproval. “Go through the exercises on page 63, Naruto. You have twenty minutes.”

Naruto sighs and gets to work. She usually enjoys sealing, but not when Yuki is making her go through stuff she learned years ago. He’s the best sealing master in the world, hired by the Hokage herself to teach Naruto exclusively, and the rigour of his lessons mean she hasn't made a mistake in years. 

“It's your Uzumaki blood,” Yuki will always tell her. “Your clan were experts in sealing.”

Which is true enough. But it's also the fact that Naruto is a Jinchuuriki. Naruto _has_ to know how to seal properly, and she has to know how to tailor the seals for herself so that the Nine-Tails can never, ever break free. She takes this more seriously than anything, and doesn't even take her sealing scrolls home from HQ like she does with the scrolls from her other lessons. 

Besides, she thinks wryly to herself as she begins the first exercise, if anyone needs to learn how to seal, it’s Uchiha Sasuke. The man had the nerve to look surprised when Naruto went for a harmless stroll in the forest near their house a few weeks ago, as though his protection seals could pose any real challenge to her. She could hardly even believe they were real when they first arrived at his house after the wedding. Still, the man is not an expert in these things, so it's to be expected — and Naruto isn't going to bring it up in case he consults an actual expert and Naruto loses her opportunity to get some fresh air every now and then.

Despite Yuki-sensei's scolding, Naruto finds herself distracted again. _Uchiha Sasuke._ Her husband, arch-enemy and, now, her teacher. Their lessons have been going on for almost two weeks, and sometimes Naruto can even sleep at night because she's so excited for sunrise. It fills her with a sense of thrill, as though she's a real ANBU cadet being trained by a legendary shinobi ahead of a battle.

She was sore and exhausted for the first few days, especially with the added strain of her afternoon exercises. On the third day, Sasuke came back home from work and found Naruto face-down in the living room, fast asleep, having dozed off in the middle of a push-up.

Which had led to a very humiliating moment with Sasuke nudging her in the side with his foot, muttering at her to wake up already because _I just scrubbed those fucking floors and I don't need you drooling all over them, Uzumaki._

Mercifully, the Nine-Tails' chakra soon kicked in and helped Naruto’s body adjust. Now she's hardly ever sore, and she finds herself pushing through the exercises with less difficulty.

“You're not so bad,” Sasuke had remarked one evening after she asked about her progress.

Naruto had to bite back a grin at the subtle praise. Even now, the memory of it makes her grip her pencil tighter, wondering what else she can do to make him say those words to her again.

She doesn't hate him as much as she used to. She used to find him suffocating, the way he criticised her every single move, even the pettiest of things like a plate left on the table or a stray sock that hadn't made it to the washing machine. 

Naruto knows she's not the neatest person ever, but she grew up with a entire army of people following her every move, and that included cooks and cleaners. She never learned how to do things like cook and clean and sort laundry. From their first meeting she could tell Sasuke was a strict, uptight person, but she hadn't expected him to be so downright cruel with her, even as she tried to improve her messiness or attempted to ease the tension with silly jokes (jokes that always, _always_ seemed to fly right over his big head). Some of the things he'd snap at her would make her stomach churn.

It wasn't long before she fled to the safety of her bedroom, avoiding the living room and his sharp, critical gaze altogether. But her bedroom made her uncomfortable late at night. It was too small compared to her previous room, stuffy even though it's the middle of winter now. The living room was more spacious and felt less like a prison.

But things between them have gotten slightly better. He still tells her off for being messy, but Naruto tries so hard _not_ to be that he doesn't have as much reason to anymore. And even so, his voice isn't quite as harsh as it once was, and the number of insults have faded away to almost zero. 

In fact, on very interesting days, he’ll make a snide remark that could almost be considered a joke (the first time it had happened, Naruto had stared at him silently for so long he'd gotten embarrassed and had told her to shut up, even though she hadn't even _said_ anything).

Naruto still wakes up some mornings and feels utterly empty and adrift, even with the newfound excitement from her lessons. And on those days, it's as if he can tell how she feels, because he hardly raises his voice at her and makes sure to give her a lot of space, looking almost awkward as he does so.

The lessons have helped. It's forced them to spend more time together, and it's shown her another side of him: extremely patient, perceptive and thoughtful. He rarely gets angry with her for making a mistake or for taking too long to grasp a concept. He only loses his temper if she gets distracted by a butterfly or a squirrel or the grey clouds above.

Now, when he gets back from work at night, she's not filled with the same dread she used to. In fact, she feels a little excited, because they actually talk to each other. Not that much, and definitely not as husband and wife. Maybe just as casual acquaintances -- but that's more than enough for Naruto.

“Stop smiling like a fool and do your work," Yuki hisses, and Naruto’s so startled she jumps up in her seat, hitting her knees against the bottom of desk painfully.

"I'm doing it," she insists, but as she turns back to her workbook she glances at the clock on the wall. Four more hours. Just four more hours, and she'll be in the living room at home as Sasuke walks through the front door, wrapped in his heavy cloak and frowning.

“Is your room not big enough?” Sasuke asks one evening.

Naruto blinks at him, surprised. She’s sitting on the living room floor, back against the couch, with a few scrolls spread out in front of her. Sasuke is at the table, medical kit in his arms, tending to a nasty cut he received from work.

It’s hard to keep the annoyance out of her voice, especially since she thought they'd been making _some_ progress over the past few weeks. “What? Do you seriously need the entire house for your beauty routine?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Sasuke snaps. He pauses a beat and then adds, through gritted teeth, “At night. I see you — you sleep on the couch some nights. Why.”

 _Oh,_ Naruto thinks. _So that’s what this is about._ Even though she’s mostly retreated to her bedroom now, it was only a matter of time before he started asking questions, she decides. She finds she's not as put off by it as she thought she would be. 

“You have an odd way of asking questions,” Naruto remarks, turning back to her scrolls. “Like you're interrogating a prisoner or something.”

Even without looking up she can feel Sasuke glaring at her. She holds her peace, however, and so does he, apparently deciding that asking Naruto too many questions is beneath him. 

“The couch is comfortable,” she tells him eventually. “My bed is kind of lumpy.”

She was half-expecting him to snap at her (as he always does when she complains about the living arrangements), but Sasuke doesn’t say anything in response. He just stares at Naruto for another long, heavy moment before going back to tending to his cut. The silence unsettles her, so Naruto finds herself attempting to fill it.

“Does it hurt?” she blurts out. “Your wound, I mean.”

“Wound?” Sasuke repeats. He’s still not looking at her, but his lips quirk up into an amused smile. “It’s just a cut.”

Naruto falls silent again, face flushing a little. She watches Sasuke pack up the equipment and tuck the container back under the kitchen sink before going to wash his hands. He's so tall he has to bend down a little bit, tilting his head down as he lets the water run over his skin. 

The sight of him makes something low in her belly swoop. Ashamed, Naruto quickly turns back to her scrolls before he can catch her staring. 

It's a new thing — the staring. It started off innocently. Naruto wants to be a shinobi, and she's living with one (a very good one, apparently). She's hyperaware of this fact, and so in her quiet moments, she’s taken to watching Sasuke move around the house. Just to see how he moves around as he carries out his day-to-day chores.

There's a fluidity to everything he does, Naruto has realised — whether it's chopping onions as he cooks dinner, or vacuuming around the living room, or strapping on his weapons as he gets ready for work. Naruto will find herself staring at the lines of his body, the muscles in his bare arms, his long fingers that seem to grip everything tight, the small frown between his eyebrows as he focuses on the task at hand. It wasn't too bad at first. 

But then things took a turn.

Sasuke is not a chatty person. The man behaves as though speaking more than a few words at a time makes him physically ill. It frustrates Naruto to no end, but it's actually been very useful during their lessons. 

Naruto has always been the type of student who tires quickly of long, rambling explanations. Thankfully, Sasuke is not the type of teacher who provides them. He keeps the talking to a minimum. He demonstrates a technique first, whether it's an appropriate fighting stance or how to hold a kunai, gesturing with his hands the real trick to each, and then orders Naruto to do the same.

Naruto surprises both of them with how quickly she manages to learn most of it. But Sasuke is a strict teacher, and he is never satisfied with anything other than perfection. 

At times, he will reach over to physically check if she's doing it properly. He’ll wrap her hands in his (so warm, so much _bigger_ than her own), carefully moving her fingers around and putting them in the correct place on the weapon. 

Or he’ll move even closer, gripping her elbow and move it this way, hold her bicep and tilt it that way — and, on one truly _horrific_ occasion, he'd knelt down to wrap his fingers around her ankle and move it to the side (and even him muttering about how a light wind would be enough to knock her over wasn't enough to quell Naruto's internal screaming).

“Like this,” he’ll always say, and sometimes, when he's standing close enough, his deep voice will rumble through Naruto's entire body. If she inhales even slightly, she can smell him - that faint, after-lightning smell of smoke; the shampoo he uses every day. It’s enough to leave her reeling for a few moments, heart pounding in her chest. 

It's ridiculous, especially since the man is just trying to teach her how to fight. It's wrong of her brain to turn something so professional into something so crude. The touching never lasts more than a few seconds, and Sasuke always steps back as soon as he's done, his face totally blank. 

But it always makes Naruto feel like she's on _fire._ She’ll replay every moment, every touch, in vivid detail: when she's in her lessons at ANBU HQ going over her seals, when she's at home alone practising her assigned exercises, when they're both at home and he's moving around, minding his own business and unaware of how much of a pervert his wife is —

And when she's in bed late at night, face red and skin hot to the touch, thoughts spiralling as she tries not to think about Sasuke (what it would take for him to touch her even more, in the places where it really counts; how it might feel if _she_ were touching him instead; what it would take to leave _him_ red-faced and embarrassed).

She always stops herself before she goes too far. They might be married, but what kind of marriage is it, really? For all she knows, the attraction she feels for Sasuke is purely physical, the result of hormones and being each other's only company for such a long time. 

The two of them only stopped outright despising each other a few weeks ago. Their conversations are hardly riveting, and most of their discussions revolve around training, dinner, and whatever small talk Naruto feels like bringing up (on any topic Sasuke seems mildly interested in).

And at the end of the day, Naruto is a Jinchuuriki. She houses the Nine-Tailed Fox within her, and almost everyone in the world would find the idea of touching such a person abhorrent and disgusting. 

Sasuke might tolerate her existence now, but she's terrified he'll find out what she's thinking and hate her for it; that she'll ruin the delicate, tentative thing that’s built up between them during the past few weeks.

Naruto thoughtfully runs her fingers along the edge of her scroll. On her wedding night and the first week and a half of their marriage, Anzu’s horrible threat had played on a loop in her mind. She'd been so terrified of Sasuke hurting her she’d tense up whenever he came back from work, as though waiting for him to lunge at her. It frightened her to no end.

Now all she wants is to feel his touch on her skin, warm and steady. She stays up at night, picturing his big hands and his long legs and his broad shoulders, and all she can think about is him touching her, holding her, pulling her close. The entire situation is so bizarre, so upside-down it could give her whiplash. 

“Are you listening to me?”

Naruto startles, almost dropping her scroll as she looks up. Sasuke is standing by the kitchen entrance, glaring at her expectantly.

“Sorry, sorry,” Naruto says quickly, blushing at being interrupted from such thoughts. “What is it?”

Sasuke watches her for a moment, looking at her so carefully it's as though he's seeing right through her. The thought makes her heart stop ( _please, please don't let him find out_ ) and Naruto finds herself scrambling for an excuse.

But then Sasuke looks away. “Kakashi is coming over for dinner.”

“Really?” Naruto exclaims, leaping up from the floor. “When?”

Sasuke scowls. “Keep it down, will you? Tomorrow evening.”

Naruto resists the urge to start dancing around the living room. She does jump up, though, and claps her hands together, too excited to stop herself from rambling. “Is he back from his mission? How did it go? Is he okay? He's coming over for dinner, right? What will we make?”

“What will _I_ make, you mean?” Sasuke scoffs, heading back into the kitchen. He checks the cupboards for ingredients, and Naruto is so distraught by the sight of his biceps she finds herself talking again, desperate to distract herself.

“Hey, do you know how to make ramen? Why don’t you make ramen? It’s his favourite food, you know.”

Sasuke turns his head to give her a skeptical look. “Is that so.”

Naruto flushes, scratching at her cheek awkwardly. “Well. Maybe it's _my_ favourite food. But I’m sure he'll like it. Who doesn't like ramen? It's the best thing ever.” 

“I haven't had ramen since I was a kid,” Sasuke mutters, still looking bemused as he searches through the cupboards. “But I guess it won't be a hassle to make…” 

After a few moments he sighs, shrugging a little as he turns around to face her. "Ramen it is.”

“Yes!” Naruto cheers. She hasn't had ramen in over a year, and tomorrow night she’ll be having it for dinner with Kakashi. She's so pleased she starts tidying up her scrolls and putting them away, singing to herself happily. “Ramen, ramen, ramen…”

When she looks up, she sees Sasuke is leaning against the kitchen counter, staring at her.

Naruto freezes as she straightens up, a half-open scroll in one hand. She's so startled by the way he's looking at her she doesn't know what to do. “Uh—”

But then Sasuke's face twists into a scowl. He turns away to start washing the dishes, the slightest tinge of redness creeping up the back of his neck. "Didn't I tell you to keep it down?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Naruto mumbles. She finishes putting her scrolls away, still bewildered by the way he'd been looking at her. 

Every now and then she'll catches him looking at her like that, and each time it always makes her feel nervous. She used to wonder if Sasuke was just zoning out, but that's not what he's like—and besides, there's no denying the intensity in his gaze. 

She can't make sense of it, and she's really not one to judge, either, considering how she can hardly take her eyes off the man. Naruto just hopes he's looking at _her_ instead of the monster she's worried he still sees her as.

The house is the loudest it's ever been during their dinner with Kakashi. Naruto talks incessantly, unable to keep her voice down and her excitement to herself (and also because she doesn't know when she’ll get a night like this again). Kakashi indulges her, answers each and every one of her questions, and asks her things in return.

“I hope Sasuke isn't being too miserable,” Kakashi says over his bowl of ramen.

Naruto swallows her own mouthful. It’s delicious — not as good as the ramen from Ichiraku’s she was always allowed on her birthday, but Sasuke can _cook._ She wonders if he'll make it again sometime soon.

She’s looking at Kakashi, but she can still feel Sasuke watching her when she answers. “He's not so bad.” 

Kakashi chuckles in disbelief at the response, and Naruto sneaks a glance at Sasuke. He's staring at his bowl with head down, but she can see the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

Soon, Naruto begins chatting about her lessons, telling Kakashi all of the things she’s learned so far. He listens patiently, nodding his head as she speaks, his grey eyes twinkling as he takes in her excitement. “I think I’m making good progress," Naruto concludes. 

Kakashi hums thoughtfully. His gaze on Sasuke is sharp, but his tone is still pleasant when he says, “Just don’t work too hard, Naruto.”

Naruto shrugs, uncomfortable with the idea of being coddled in training. She doesn't want to stop working hard — it's not even an option. “I can take it," she insists. “The harder the better.”

There’s an odd sound as Sasuke chokes on his water. He's been quiet the whole night, but now he’s mopping up the water he spat out onto the table, his cheeks a brilliant shade of red. Kakashi’s shoulders are shaking with laughter, and Naruto feels like passing out as she realises why.

“No!” she says loudly. "I didn't — that's not what I meant! Stop _laughing,_ Kakashi!”

“Sorry,” Kakashi says, still chuckling. He glances at Sasuke, who has gotten up from the table to throw away his wet napkin, still red-faced. “Let's change the topic, shall we.”

Naruto returns to her bowl of food, stomach still churning with humiliation and annoyance. She wouldn't have even realised the innuendo in her words if Sasuke hadn’t reacted so dramatically.

Thankfully Kakashi does change the topic, and Naruto makes sure her words are as innocent as they can possibly be for the remainder of the evening. Sasuke still doesn't look either of them in the eye, though, and it makes Naruto feel helplessly guilty.

“I’ll be right back," she mumbles eventually. 

When she returns from a quick bathroom break, she finds Kakashi talking to Sasuke in a low voice. Sasuke looks distinctly uncomfortable, leaning back in his seat with a flush creeping up his neck. He glances up as Naruto walks back in, and as soon as they make eye contact, he looks away with a scowl. 

“Ah, Naruto,” Kakashi says pleasantly, straightening up. “Sasuke's going to make us some coffee. Would you like some?”

Naruto sits back down at the table carefully, shaking her head to decline the offer. Sasuke gets up with a frown to make the coffee. She watches him, wondering if he somehow knows; if he has somehow put two and two together and realised his wife is a disgusting pervert whose recent thoughts revolve almost entirely about how much she wants him to touch her (or how much she wants to touch him).

The possibility makes her feel terrified, so Naruto forces herself to look away from him as he moves around the kitchen. She gives Kakashi a smile. “Will you come back for dinner again?”

“Why not?” Kakashi says, which is his way of saying _Of course._ “The kid's cooking isn’t that bad.”

“Isn’t that bad?" Naruto repeats with a laugh. “Come on, it's really good!”

Kakashi smiles, glancing over at Sasuke, who's occupied with working the coffee machine. Then his grey eyes crinkle mischievously and he says, “I believe Naruto paid you a compliment, Sasuke.”

Sasuke stiffens. He's silent for a long moment before he clears his throat and says, “I heard.”

“So?” Kakashi prompts. He clasps his hands together and leans back in his chair. “What do you say when someone compliments you?”

Naruto feels herself reddening. “Kakashi—”

“Thank you," Sasuke says stiffly. He places a cup of coffee in front of Kakashi and another in front of Naruto, even though she had declined the offer. 

“I—uh,” she mumbles. “You're welcome. And…thank you. For the coffee.”

Sasuke simply nods once, staring up at the ceiling. Despite his blatant discomfort, it gives Naruto a good view of the blush that's creeping up the column of his neck. Naruto suddenly wonders what the skin there tastes like, and she nearly spills her coffee on herself.

 _What has gotten into you, Uzumaki,_ she screams internally. 

“Such clumsy kids,” Kakashi sighs, but he sounds more amused than anything. 

Kakashi leaves ten minutes later, promising to come back and visit soon. There was a brief argument over how soon — Sasuke had insisted he was more than happy not to see the man for another six months or maybe more, but Naruto and Kakashi agreed next weekend was as good a time as any. Outvoted, Sasuke marched off with a scowl to clean the kitchen table.

Naruto sees Kakashi off at the door. “Thank you for coming over. I had lots of fun,” she smiles at him. She glances at the kitchen and adds, “I think Sasuke did, too.”

“Oh, I’m _sure_ he did,” Kakashi says dryly, pulling Naruto in for a warm hug when she blinks at him in confusion.

Then he’s gone, stepping out into the cold winter night. Naruto shuts the door with a sigh, already missing him. 

She turns around and sees Sasuke standing a foot away, watching her intently. Naruto shrieks. “What the—“

“Keep it _down,_ " he snaps at her. 

"Don't sneak up on me like that!” Naruto exclaims, crossing her arms.

She expects him to turn and walk away, but Sasuke just stands there. He's not even looking at her anymore, just glancing around the living room area with his hands in his pockets. 

“Uh…do you need help cleaning up?” Naruto asks after a minute, confused.

Sasuke pauses before finally looking at her. “Ramen,” he says in a stiff voice, ignoring her question entirely. “The recipe. I can teach you.”

Naruto stares at him, eyes wide. _“Really?”_

“And other things," Sasuke adds hastily. When Naruto just beams at him, he quickly looks away. “Might as well.”

“Thank you!” Naruto cheers. First he’s teaching her how to fight, now he's teaching her how to cook delicious things like ramen. She makes a silent vow to be tidier than ever for the next week or two. It's the least she can do in the face of such generosity. "Seriously, thank you." 

Sasuke seems embarrassed by her unbridled gratitude and joy and by the way she's smiling at him. He clears his throat again, rolling his shoulders a little as he turns around and walks back to the kitchen. "Like I said, I’m not your servant.”

But Naruto from the tone of his voice that what he really means to say is _You’re welcome._


	7. Sasuke

“Naruto,” Sasuke says. “Pass the milk.”

There’s no response, so he turns around from his place by the sink with a frown. Naruto immediately scrambles to action, her cheeks bright red as she grabs the milk carton from the fridge and hands it over. Sasuke turns back to the bowl in front of him, resisting the urge to sigh.

The thing about Naruto is that she isn’t very subtle at all. She also lacks self-awareness. Sasuke is a shinobi, and he’s spent years honing his skills both in training and on the battlefield. He knows how to read someone else’s body language, how to decipher the furrow of their brow and the flare of their nostrils. Or in Naruto’s case, the flush of her cheeks and stammer in her words.

She’s not the first person to have a crush on him. Sasuke knows by now that most women tend to find him attractive. He’s not particularly proud of the fact, and it’s caused him a lot of unnecessary stress in the past — getting through his Academy years as a grieving orphan was difficult enough, but having the attention of squealing, red-faced female classmates had made it almost unbearable. 

But Naruto’s feelings for him have been around for a while. He’ll be standing in the kitchen chopping onions for dinner, and he’ll turn around to find Naruto standing there, just staring at him with her big blue eyes. Or he’ll be instructing her in one of their morning lessons and will hold her by the wrist or the forearm (gently, because he doesn’t want to hurt her again), and she’ll turn a brilliant shade of red and inhale sharply. Or they’ll just be sitting in the living room, carrying out their own tasks, when she decides to draw him into a random conversation. Sasuke will humour her and reply, but as he speaks he’ll see her gaze flicker down to his lips (or, sometimes, his neck), her pupils dilating ever so slightly. 

Each time, she’ll catch herself. She’ll immediately turn red and look away, as though she’s afraid Sasuke will notice and will call her out for it. 

But he won’t. As awkward as the situation is, he understands. It’s clear this is her first time living with someone else, and the fact that it’s with a _man,_ and in such close proximity, has probably made her feel a little frazzled. And Naruto is bewildered by her own feelings, and seems to have no intention of acting upon them. It’s been two months and she hasn’t made any kind of move. 

On one hand, he’s relieved. But on the other, Sasuke is still a man. He might have significantly better self-control than she does, but still. 

One of the worst aspects of Naruto’s total lack of self-awareness is how she’ll waltz around the house half-naked. It’s winter, but it’s as if she never gets cold. She’ll sit on the couch wearing a loose shirt and shorts, reading an old book, and Sasuke’s eyes will immediately zero in on her bare legs and feet.

Or she’ll come out of the shower and go to the kitchen wrapped in nothing but a towel, muttering about how hungry she is and how if she doesn’t eat an apple right away she’ll definitely pass out. Sasuke will try his best to focus on the chopping board in front of him and not at the curve of her ass that's barely hidden under her the bottom of her towel, or the drops of water running down her collarbone and into her cleavage as she rushes off.

It’s no use. He still finds himself in the shower, one hand wrapped around himself as he jerks himself off to the thought of her. He’ll picture Naruto letting her towel drop to the floor as she walks up to him, eyes bright with lust. Or he’ll imagine her crawling into his lap while he sits on the couch, wrapping her arms around him and whispering filthy things in his ear. 

“I’ve waited for this all day,” the Naruto of his fantasies will whisper breathily. “Please touch me, _Sasuke._ ”

He hasn’t masturbated this much since he was a teenager. It's ridiculous, and it’s extra humiliating because the object of his fantasies is only a few feet away. And she also happens to be his wife. 

But even more confusingly, he’s starting to _like_ Naruto as a person. It’s a terrifying concept. She’s loud and ditzy and still struggles with the most basic chores. He’s been teaching her how to fight and how to cook, and sometimes she’ll do something so stupid he has to pause and take a deep breath before he loses his mind completely. She also insists on drawing him into conversation about the most asinine topics ( _“If cats could speak, what do you think they’d say?”_ ) and won’t drop it until he’s given her an answer. 

But she’s hard-working and tough. In their lessons, she works harder than most of the cadets he trains at HQ and barely complains, and her progress has been remarkable. She’s patient with Sasuke’s silences and blunt responses that would offend anybody else, and she listens attentively to what he has to say. She’s also nearly always in a good mood. In the mornings, she'll wait for him by the door like an excited puppy, and her enthusiasm will make him smile inwardly despite himself. Even if Sasuke comes back from work or a meeting with a scowl, anger prickling at his skin, she’ll jump up from the couch with a smile and start talking so incessantly that he can’t help but pay attention to her instead. 

So to his own horror, Sasuke will sometimes find himself wishing Naruto just acted on her feelings already. It’s obvious she’s never been with anyone before, and he wonders what it would be like to touch her, to have his hands on her body and his lips on hers — to be the first to do so. But he’ll also wonder what it would be like to run his fingers through her soft blonde hair, to look into those bright blue eyes up close, to breathe in her sweet scent after a long day. Everything about her seems warm and soft, like laying in a field of grass on a spring day. 

If he wanted to, Sasuke could have her and she could have him. They’re married, so it would make perfect sense to do something about it. But it also unsettles him, how deeply he’s growing attached to her. It makes him feel unguarded and off-kilter, like he’s standing in a field without any weapons and his arms outstretched, waiting for the enemy to attack.

So Sasuke doesn’t act on his own feelings and tries his best to push them down. As they move through the cold winter months, he thinks he might be getting better at it. He doesn’t acknowledge whatever Naruto might be feeling for him either, and he’s glad she's still refraining from doing anything. The sooner it fizzles out, the better. 

Work doesn’t become any less relentless, even if it is winter. 

Sasuke finds himself spending more and more time on missions and at HQ, which means he spends less time at home. He’s always worked long hours, but now he leaves straight after their morning lessons and gets home when Naruto is already in bed.

“Are you busier than usual?” Naruto asks after training one morning. She looks a little put-out by the change in their routine. Sasuke tries not to feel too pleased by the thought that she misses his company. 

“Yes,” Sasuke tells her. “Work has been hectic.”

She nods in understanding. “Kakashi told me the ANBU headquarters have been really packed.”

Sasuke shrugs at that. Kakashi has been spending more time with Naruto than he has, particularly on the weekends. The idea of his sensei having free time on the weekends is bewildering (it turns out that war veteran jounin get all kinds of perks from the Hokage).

But it’s also a relief, because Kakashi knows how Naruto feels about him and how _he_ feels about Naruto. The man has been rubbing it into Sasuke’s face for a while now. He’d expected him to be angry that his beloved sensei’s daughter had a crush on Sasuke, but he seems more amused by it than anything. Now that Sasuke’s not around, he won’t have to deal with his raised eyebrows and knowing grins. 

Still, he wishes he wasn’t so busy. He’s gotten used to Naruto’s company and the unyielding warmth she always provides, even if he doesn’t show any real interest in it.

Even worse, Danzo keeps rearing his ugly head to talk to Sasuke. Usually they barely ever see each other, but since a messy situation involving six missing-nin took place, he’s been more demanding than ever. Sasuke can handle that, even if the man’s input is annoying and out of touch, but what he doesn’t tolerate is his advice about…other things.

The man will bring up Naruto every now and then, and just hearing him say her name is enough to make Sasuke’s skin crawl. He asks about how she’s doing and if they’re both adjusting to married life well, which is innocent enough, but it doesn’t take long for the conversation to move elsewhere.

“I do hope you’re being firm with her,” Danzo tells him one afternoon. “She certainly needs it.”

They’re standing on the first floor in his meeting room, overlooking the courtyard. Shikamaru is running the cadets through some drills, lazily giving out orders as he puffs from a cigarette.

Sasuke gives Danzo a sidelong glare. “What do you mean?”

“She is a Jinchuuriki, after all,” Danzo explains. “She hosts a demon spirit, and that can result in all kinds of wild behaviour. You mustn’t be afraid to…put her in her place.”

“Put her in her place?” Sasuke spits out, but then he falls silent. He can remember using those same words in a conversation with Shikamaru not too long ago, when he was annoyed by Naruto’s sudden shift in behaviour. The memory of it makes him feel sick to his stomach as he stands beside Danzo, who is still talking to him in a low voice.

“Yes. A firm hand is needed with that one. Don’t feel guilty — she’s used to it, after all. When she was a child, it was easier to control her. Isolation, withholding meals, and one occasion we had to physically restrain her for attacking a guard. The demon can make its presence known from time to time, so keep that in mind.”

Sasuke says nothing. He stares out of the window and clenches his fists, fighting the urge to cut the man’s throat. 

Danzo carries on speaking, his tone languid. “It might be more difficult to do that to her now, of course, but you must still try to be strict with her. Your sensei is too soft, no doubt because of his connection to the vessel’s parents, but you know better.”

 _You know better._ Danzo doesn’t add, _because you’re an Uchiha Sasuke and you come from the same blood as Itachi and Madara, and you are capable of the same violence as them._

He turns to Sasuke, who still refuses to look at him. He’s almost blind with anger by now, but he knows that if he so much as glances at Danzo he won’t be able to restrain himself, and he doesn’t want to end up killing one of the most important men in the village. Kakashi taught him better. His mother and his clan taught him better.

“If she displays any…unwelcome behaviour,” Danzo concludes calmly, “you must let me know as soon as possible. We’ll take it from there.”

The old man turns and walks away, hands clasped behind his back. A few ROOT members fall into step behind him. Sasuke finally turns around to watch him go, letting out a slow, shaky exhale as he tries to calm himself down.

He’s about to head back downstairs when a younger man rushes in with a scroll. “Mission, boss. Land of Lightning,” he says, handing it to Sasuke before he runs back outside. 

Sasuke grips the scroll tight and resists the urge to slam his head against the wall. 

The mission lasts a few days, but it feels like a year. Sasuke hates the Land of Lightning. The weather is terrible and humid, and all of the shinobi there are frustratingly stubborn, even when they’re losing a fight. 

He has a missing-nin sprawled on the forest floor, holding his arm at a loose angle and a kunai to his throat. He’s a member of a group of shinobi planning an attack on Konoha, hoping to kill the Hokage for some reason or another. One of their messages was discreetly intercepted, so Sasuke was sent out to put an end to their plot.

The man — who was working for the group as some kind of look-out — had put up a fierce fight, managing to slice Sasuke in the arm just under his ANBU tattoo. It hadn’t been enough to give him any real advantage, but it still stung like a bitch.

“Lead me to your hideout,” Sasuke tells the man calmly. 

“Fuck you!” the man screams again, his screeching voice echoing through the empty clearing.

Sasuke sighs. He twists, and the man’s arm snaps. He howls, writhing wildly in pain and continuing to curse Sasuke, Sasuke’s mother and entire family for all eternity.

“You cunt! You fucking Uchiha cunt!” the man howls. “Your people are burning in hell. You’ll be joining them soon!”

“Your hideout,” Sasuke says again, keeping his voice steady. He’s not sure what’s annoyed him more — the fact that the man (and by extension, his allies) know who he is, or the foul insults he’s directing towards Sasuke’s clan. “Or your right arm is next.” 

To his credit, the man stands his ground for the next ten minutes, in which Sasuke breaks his other arm and two of his fingers. But the pain seems to be too much for him, because he finally sobs out the directions to his leader’s hideout. 

“Don’t tell them I sent you,” he begs, face streaked with tears. “Please, please.”

“I won’t,” Sasuke promises, before he cuts the man’s throat.

He stands there, staring at the man’s corpse as blood pools from his neck and on the forest floor around him. Sasuke rubs his blood-stained hands together and inhales deeply, Sharingan analysing his surroundings. The man had been loud, but they’re deep in the forest and it doesn’t seem like anybody heard his shouts. 

He wipes his kunai and begins making his way to the hideout, chakra thrumming in his veins as he readies himself for a fight.

He doesn’t get one.

He finds them in an old, run-down cabin, huddled around a table and working on their so-called invasion plan. The men are determined but still no match for him, and it only takes a total of three minutes to take them all out. Sasuke stands over their bodies, fingers twitching as he picks up the scroll they’d been using to make their plans. He’ll have to take it back to HQ as soon as possible.

“What a letdown,” he mutters, slamming the cabin door shut behind him. It’s hard to feel too annoyed, because now he can finally return to Konoha. 

Sasuke heads straight back to the village, unwilling to spend any time resting. He should probably tend to his cut, but he wants to hand the scroll over to HQ, and he can fix himself up at home. The journey is arduous and lasts well over a day even though he travels fast. 

But by the time he walks out of ANBU HQ he’s still thrumming with energy, still pent-up from his disappointing fights against those missing-nin.

He walks home with his hands shoved in his pockets. Even though he’d washed his clothes as best as he can, he still feels uncomfortable and probably doesn’t smell very good. The cut on his arm is beginning to ache, the pain throbbing with every step he takes.

Naruto is lounging on the couch, but she glances up with wide eyes as he walks in. “Sasuke!” she says, and there’s no denying the happiness on her face, the slight flush to her cheeks. “How was your mission?”

Sasuke closes the door behind him, ignoring the funny feeling in his pit of his stomach at the sight of her. “Don’t tell me you burnt the house down while I was away.”

Naruto grins. “Yeah, right. I actually made rice and it was really good! Kakashi had two whole bowls — oh, he was just here an hour ago, by the way, and we played checkers and I won. Anyway, there are some leftovers, should I heat it up for you?”

She talks so fast he can hardly keep up. Either that, or he's just totally out of it. Sasuke blinks at her before saying, “I’m going to clean up first.”

He honestly doesn’t trust her cooking yet, but he’s so hungry and so tired he can’t bring himself to care. He takes off his cloak and heads to the bathroom, spending over an hour in the shower. When he steps out in a fresh change of clothes, sleeve of his right arm rolled up to reveal his cut, he feels a little more human-like.

Sasuke sits at the dinner table, still running a towel through his hair. Naruto places a bowl of rice and curry in front of him with a flourish. To his surprise, it doesn’t look that bad. In fact, as he takes his first few bites, it’s actually pretty good.

Naruto settles at the table when he’s finished eating, taking a seat next to him him. She has a medical kit in her hands and she nods at his bicep. “That must hurt.”

Sasuke hums, taking the kit from her. He tries not to focus on the column of her throat, but it’s no use. “It’s not so bad.”

He works on his injury for the next ten minutes, focusing on disinfecting the cut before getting started on the stitches. The angle is awkward, so he glances up at Naruto. 

She’s staring at him with her lips parted and her eyes slightly glazed over. The sight makes Sasuke’s gut clench. 

“Naruto,” he says. “Would you mind helping me out?”

She blinks, flushing a little. “Uh — with what?”

He instructs her to place her fingers on his arm and slightly close the sides of the gash so that he can put the stitches in a little easier. Her fingers are soft and as warm as he’d imagined, the warmth seeping into his skin. She smells like his shampoo. 

He clears his throat when he’s done. “Thank you,” he tells her quietly. She moves her fingers away, but he keeps his eyes trained on his injury. He finishes up, cutting the thread and wiping at it one more time before he’s done. 

But when Sasuke finally looks up Naruto is moving in close, eyes fluttering shut and her lips seeking his.

He pulls away sharply, taken aback by how she’d gotten so close to him without making a sound. He’s almost embarrassed by his own surprise, so he asks, “What are you doing?”

Naruto pulls back and stares at him. Her cheeks are red and her blue eyes are wide with anxiousness. “I just thought — Kakashi said—”

“What the hell did Kakashi tell you?” Sasuke demands, furious at the idea of the older man blabbing to Naruto about him. 

But Naruto misinterprets his anger entirely and thinks it's directed towards her. “Nothing!” she says quickly, voice shrill. “Nothing! I’m sorry!”

She gets up from the table, almost knocking over his glass of water in her haste, before rushing off to her bedroom. She slams the door so loud the entire house shakes with the force of it.

Sasuke leans back in his chair, running a hand through his hair tiredly. He’d handled that like an idiot. He was distracted, and when he’d finally realised Naruto was moving closer to him, he’d been startled to the point of harshness.

His stomach churns at the memory of the look in her eyes: a mix of fear, regret and hurt. 

_It’s for the best,_ he tells himself firmly. He doesn’t need this. There’s no good in thinking with his dick and getting attached to Naruto as a result. He is the last Uchiha, and he’s buried too many loved ones to let himself get caught off guard by his own feelings. He can’t be what Naruto wants or needs. 

He stares at the closed door of her bedroom for a long moment, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t pulled away as she leaned in. Then he gets up from the table with a sigh, putting his medical equipment away before heading to bed.

They both silently agree to act as though nothing happened.

They continue their lessons and remain courteous with each other, but Sasuke makes sure he doesn’t touch Naruto as much as he used to. There’s no real need for it now she’s got most of the stances and techniques down. He holds her gaze only as long as it’s necessary, and keeps his distance when they’re at home together. 

Naruto still behaves as cheerfully as always, but there’s a stiffness to it now. Her smile doesn't quite meet her eyes. She looks away if he so much as glances in her direction, and only brings up topics like training or Sasuke’s work. In response to Sasuke keeping his distance, she avoids standing around him completely. This means Sasuke resumes cooking their meals, but he’s so glad for the extra space he doesn’t feel bothered by the extra workload. 

It's frustrating. They’d just gotten comfortable around each other, and now they’re back to square one. The sudden change is uncomfortable, but neither of them are willing to bring it up or do anything about it. 

Naruto still blushes around him, but he’s not sure if it’s because she still has feelings for him or if she’s just embarrassed by how harshly he’d shut her down. But what matters is she keeps her distance, joining him in his efforts to pretend everything’s fine and nothing’s wrong.

He hates himself for making her feel this way. And Sasuke feels like a coward in his own home, especially when he still wakes up hard from dreams involving Naruto’s full lips and the line of her neck, and when he still jerks himself off in the shower picturing the perfect curve of her ass, panting as he reaches his orgasm, dizzy with the desire to touch her and taste her.

Despite it all, Sasuke manages to get through the days. It’s only at night — when he should be asleep — that he finds himself staring at the empty space in bed next to him. He feels an ache in his chest at the sight of it, and he knows it goes beyond mere lust or desire. He knows exactly what it means, and it frightens him.

But he still chooses to ignore it.


	8. Naruto

“I’m off,” Sasuke tells her.

Naruto nods, leaning a little against the wall. It’s early in the morning, and he's heading out for a week-long mission to the Land of Lightning. _Tying up some loose ends,_ he’d told her rather mysteriously. Naruto can't help but wonder if he’s just trying to get away from her.

“Good luck,” she says, forcing a smile.

Sasuke nods, not quite looking her in the eye before he steps out of the apartment and shuts the door behind him.

Naruto immediately runs to her room and collapses face-first onto her bed. Her cheeks are bright red, she knows, because they always are nowadays whenever she speaks to Sasuke. At least now she’ll have a week’s escape from the awkwardness.

 _It’s your own damn fault,_ she snaps at herself. She tries her best to ignore it, but the terrible, horrible mental image comes to her anyway: Sasuke, leaning back with wide, startled eyes as she leans in to kiss him.

Naruto rolls over in bed, groaning in shame at the memory. She’d been so lost in the moment, mesmerised by the sight of him just centimetres away from her, the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips, the low pitch of his voice as he said her name.

 _It’s not completely my fault,_ Naruto thinks angrily. 

The whole thing started with Kakashi. The man’s visits have been more frequent ever since Sasuke started working long hours during the winter. Naruto still can’t believe that this is her life now, and that she gets to see him so often. Kakashi is silly and crazy in the best way possible, and the two often spend hours sitting in the living room cradling cups of steaming tea as he tells her about her mother and father. Naruto hangs onto his every word, soaking in every precious memory: the time Kushina raced Kakashi in the forest and won, or the time Minato baked his students a celebratory cake but accidentally used salt instead of sugar.

Every story makes her laugh. Naruto laughs so hard she feels herself tearing up, because this is what Danzo has been keeping her from all these years: these reminders that she is human, she is _somebody,_ and she is loved. She’s not a demon or a monster, despite trying to turn her into one. 

But Kakashi is as devious as he is silly, because he quickly developed a habit of bringing up other topics. _Uncomfortable_ topics. 

“So,” he would say knowingly. “Sasuke.”

Naruto still can’t figure out what the dynamic is between the two. Kakashi acts as if Sasuke is his foolish little brother, and Sasuke seems constantly annoyed by the older man’s antics. But there’s a deep sense of respect and trust between them, she can tell, and a fierce loyalty.

“What about him?” Naruto would almost always reply, trying to keep her blush under control.

It was pointless, because Kakashi had managed to figure it out long before Naruto came clean. He’d made his amusement very clear, and after a full week of teasing, he’d decided to share some very interesting information with Naruto.

“You know, your crush isn’t as one-sided as you might think,” Kakashi had told her with a wink, right before he left the house one evening.

Naruto had stared at the closed door for a long moment, her thoughts racing. His words had been enough to keep her up all night. Was Kakashi implying Sasuke had a crush on _her?_ Because that was impossible. Sasuke didn’t seem like the type to have crushes, or intense feelings of any kind. The man was the pinnacle of self-control. And even if he were to have feelings for somebody…

It wouldn’t be Naruto. That much was clear.

Even if they were slowly, gradually getting closer. 

She’d told herself this firmly, determined to stop herself from getting carried away as a result of Kakashi’s teasing.

But then her curiosity got the better of her. She started watching him - just to test Kakashi’s claim.

She realised rather quickly that Sasuke stared at her. _A lot._ So much that she didn’t know how she’d missed it this entire time. Initially, Naruto was afraid he was looking at her with resentment and disgust for being what she was. She was scared he’d snap one day and tell her what he really felt of her ( _monster, freak)._

But as time went on, Naruto realised that wasn’t quite it. She’s never been the best at reading people, but there were times she would find him looking at her in a way that suggested the complete opposite of disgust.

He’d look her in the eyes, staring at her intensely as she chatted whilst carrying out a task. But then, as she pretended to be distracted by something else, she’d catch a glimpse of his gaze wandering lower, fixating on her lips, her neck, her breasts. She’d turn around from rearranging the cushions and see him staring blatantly at the curve of her ass. 

She would look at him and see blatant, uncensored _hunger._ It made her feel almost dizzy to be looked at in such a way. It unnerved her, at first. But as time went on, she found herself starting to feel excited. _What does it mean?_

Before long, she wanted him to do more than just look. 

She’d stay up at night, running her hands along her body and wondering. What it would feel like if it were Sasuke’s hands on her instead? She knows his touch from their lessons, but what if it were fuelled by desire? How would his fingertips feel against the inside of her thighs? How would his lips feel pressed against her breasts, his tongue running along her nipples? How would he feel inside her?

She’d touch herself just a few minutes after the questions came to her, pressing wildly at that spot between her legs and biting her lip to stop her groans of pleasure from escaping. Once, she even managed to get a finger inside herself, tearing up from the intensity of her orgasm and the mental image of having Sasuke’s thick fingers deep inside her instead. 

Her thoughts became more vulgar and obscene as time went on. She wanted him so wildly it hurt. She wanted him on top of her, wanted him inside her, wanted him to touch her and fuck her and make her his. 

But she also wanted him to hold her face in his big hands and smile at her and say her name in that deep, quiet voice. She would tell herself a little defensively that these tender thoughts balanced out the filthy ones. 

If Sasuke ever thought of her in either way, he never let it show. He’d always look away the second she turned around, not giving anything away. 

It was frustrating, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He was still good to her. And they were friends, now, in their own odd way. 

But in typical Naruto-style, she had to ruin everything.

The sting of his rejection hurt, but Sasuke was gracious with her despite her clumsiness and stupidity. He didn’t bring it up, instead choosing to move past the incident as though it never happened. He still cooks for her and cleans up after her. He still teaches her with the same intensity and focus. 

But he barely looks at her, and he doesn’t touch her in lessons anymore. Their conversations are stiff and uncomfortable. It’s her fault, really, since she’s always been the one to initiate conversations and eye contact. 

But she just can’t bring herself to talk to him the way she used to. Not when he all but turned her away, after all that time he spent looking at her, after the hope it gave her. Did it mean nothing after all? Or was she just imagining it out of her own desperation? 

_He doesn’t owe you anything,_ Naruto tells herself firmly. She rolls onto her back and glares up at the ceiling, eyes prickling with tears.

It’s true. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

It rains heavily a few days later, a typical winter storm. Naruto is busy in the kitchen, trying to recreate Sasuke’s ramen recipe. She’s glaring at the onions on the chopping board, wondering if they’ll give her any trouble, when she hears it:

A faint, scratching noise against the door.

Naruto frowns, immediately focusing her chakra. But she can’t sense anyone: not Sasuke, not a shinobi or any kind of civilian. She wonders if she’s imagined it, but then she hears the soft scratching noise again.

This time, it’s followed by a yowl.

Naruto rushes to the door, slamming it open. Curled up by the entrance is an old grey cat, its wet fur plastered to its skin. It’s trembling, but it looks up at her and yowls again.

“Oh, no,” Naruto gasps, crouching down to gather it in her arms. The cat mewls pathetically, rubbing its head against the cloth of her wrist. Naruto heads back inside, closing the door behind her and rushing to the bathroom to grab a towel to dry it with.

It’s been a harsh winter, but she’s not sure how common stray cats are in Konoha. Naruto has always loved animals, and cats are no exception. She realises this one is male, and he looks old and tired, with a few scars across his legs. He’s also extremely malnourished.

She finishes drying the cat before leading him to the kitchen, searching around for a small plate and some tuna. She places the bowl in front of him, scratching softly at its head. “You must be starving.”

The cat sniffs gingerly at the bowl before beginning to eat. He’s done in a matter of seconds, so Naruto gives him some more. He eats slower this time, finishing up and licking his lips before staring at her expectantly.

“Well,” Naruto begins, rubbing her hands together. “I wonder if you have a family.”

She doesn’t think he does. Everything about him shows he’s a stray, just trying to make it through a tough winter. Naruto takes one good look at him and makes up her mind.

“I’m not kicking you out,” she promises. “You can stay here as long as you want, okay? I mean, it must be fate. You just showed up on my doorstep out of nowhere.”

She talks to herself while she gets a makeshift bed ready for him on the couch. He settles down on the blankets and falls asleep in a few seconds, curling up contentedly. 

Naruto runs her fingers across his soft grey fur, looking over into the kitchen and wondering if there’s any point in trying to cook ramen now. And then she grins, an idea coming to her. “I think I’ll call you Miso,” she says. 

Miso settles in to his new home very easily. Kakashi is surprised to meet the new member of the Uzumaki-Uchiha household, but Naruto talks him into buying her a litterbox and some cat food, and to check if there are any missing cat posters around Konoha. It’s only when he tells her there aren’t any that she finally relaxes.

“Looks like you’re here to stay, Miso,” she tells the cat one evening as pokes him in the nose. He mewls, nipping at her fingers half-heartedly. 

A few days later, Naruto is having a pleasant afternoon nap in her bedroom when she wakes up to the sound of Sasuke’s irritated voice. 

“Naruto,” he calls from the living room. “Why is there a cat standing in front of me?”

Naruto leaps out of bed, rushing out of her room. Miso usually sleeps in her bed, but he must have wandered out. And Sasuke must have returned from his mission while she was snoozing.

She freezes when she spots him. The man is standing outside the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair damp. 

He’s staring down at Miso, who is by his feet and staring up at him curiously. Naruto automatically surveys Sasuke for sign of any injuries, and is relieved to find none.

And then she realises Sasuke is bare-chested, wet, and standing right in front of her, and that he looks very handsome with his hair slicked back.

“He has a name, you know,” she manages to say.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow, looking deeply unimpressed. “Does he.”

Naruto walks over to Miso, making sure she absolutely does not look at the hair on Sasuke’s chest as it disappears under his towel. She picks the cat up and bundles him in her arms, rocking him back and forth a little.

“This is Miso,” she tells Sasuke with a grin. It’s probably the first time she’s smiled at him since the incident, and she hopes it doesn’t come across as forced.

Sasuke stares at her for a moment before he turns on his heel and walks off to his bedroom. 

“I’m going to put some clothes on," he says over his shoulder. "When I come back, I want an explanation.”

As the bedroom door shuts, Naruto looks down at Miso. He blinks up at her, looking deeply unimpressed. “That was Sasuke,” she mutters to the cat. “He’s a _complete_ bastard, I'm afraid.”

Still, when Sasuke steps back out a few minutes later, she does her best to win him over. “I found him outside. It was raining really hard, and he was shivering and he looked like he hadn’t eaten in days or even _weeks,_ so I took him in and I thought he might as well stay—”

Sasuke runs a hand through his hair _(still damp, still slicked back)_ and sighs tiredly, looking around the living room. “We don’t know how to look after a cat, Naruto. It’s not an easy task. We don’t even have any of the right resources. We can’t keep it.”

 _“Him,”_ Naruto says defensively. “Not _it._ And we can learn.” Then she pauses, changing gears entirely. “You know what? You won’t even have to do anything, I swear. Just let him stay here, please. He’ll be my responsibility.”

Sasuke looks like he wants to argue, but he also looks extremely exhausted. Naruto suddenly feels guilty for springing this on the man when he’s just returned from a week-long mission. She puts Miso down and walks to the kitchen.

“I’ll get you something to eat,” she says over her shoulder. “Sit down. And please don’t kick Miso out while I’m busy.”

Sasuke doesn’t answer. As the food heats up, Naruto looks over to the living room. Sasuke is sitting on the couch a little awkwardly, with Miso sniffing his hand. The man looks deeply uncomfortable, and the sight makes Naruto chuckle inwardly.

“Don’t be scared,” she tells him. “He’s just getting to know you.”

“I’m not scared,” Sasuke snaps, but he stiffens even more as Miso moves in closer. 

Naruto doesn’t drop it, even as Sasuke eats his dinner. It’s cruel, she knows, but she also once read that people are more likely to agree with you if they’re eating food. So she takes a seat next to Sasuke at the table and pleads Miso’s case.

“Think about it,” Naruto says. “It’s a cruel, cold, unbearable winter. Miso is all alone with nobody to care for him.”

“How do you know that?” Sasuke demands, taking a vicious bite of his food. “He might be someone’s cat that’s gone missing.”

“I asked Kakashi to check if there were any missing cat inquiries, and he said there were none,” Naruto says. “And if one does pop up, I’ll give him back to his owners. I’m not a cat thief. Or a cat-napper. Seconds?” 

Sasuke rolls his eyes, but hands his plate back to let her fill it with more food. “He might have all kinds of diseases.”

“We’ll take him to the vet,” Naruto says firmly. “And I don’t think he does. He looks clean and smells clean, and he hasn’t been coughing or anything.”

Miso saunters up to the table and rubs his head against Naruto’s calf. She smiles and picks him up, placing a tender kiss on his forehead. “Look at him! He’s so cute, Sasuke. And he’s so well-behaved. I think it’s because he’s already old.”

Sasuke still looks unimpressed, but not as skeptical as he did before. If anything, he looks thoughtful. 

“Fine,” Sasuke sighs after a while, rising from the table. “You win. But he’s your problem. And if that cat decides to use our living room as its toilet, you’re cleaning it up.”

Naruto beams at him, delighted. She hadn’t been expecting to win Sasuke over so easily, but now Miso can _stay._ “He has a litter-box, you know.”

Sasuke washes his plate at the sink, still looking impassive. So Naruto gathers up her courage and holds Miso a little tighter.

“Sasuke,” she says. When he turns to look at her, she adds, “Thank you.”

He stares at her for a moment, glancing down at Miso in her lap before meeting her gaze again. “Yeah,” he says finally, before turning back to the sink.

Naruto rubs at Miso’s head, trying not to blush again as she heads back to the living room, still smiling. 

She needs to get a hold of herself, she knows, especially since Sasuke has made it clear that he doesn’t want her in that way. But she can’t change how she feels. Now that he’s returned after his week-long mission, she realises just how much she missed having him around. 

She’s always felt Sasuke’s absences whenever he’s away, especially in the mornings when their lessons are cancelled and one of his ANBU partners escort her to her lessons in his place. The house always feels empty, silent. 

But this time, it’s as if she hasn’t felt settled the entire week he’s been gone. She feels it now that he’s back, standing just a few feet away from her, with his silences and stiffness, his patience and generosity in the face of her never-ending recklessness and chaos. She feels warm all over with happiness, her heart full.

It’s suddenly so clear to her. _I love him._

Naruto doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

Laugh, because it’s so ridiculous: falling in love with a man after five months of being married to him — a man who’s not exactly easy to love. Cry, because he doesn’t want her and will never love her in the same way. 

Naruto tells herself it doesn’t matter. She will not let her feelings get the better of her this time. This is the most they’ve spoken since she screwed everything up by trying to kiss him, and the atmosphere is finally light and easy. 

For the first time since the incident, she has hope that things between them might get better.

She glances down at Miso, kissing him on the cheek. “All thanks to you, buddy.”

“What was that?” Sasuke says.

“Nothing,” Naruto says quickly.

Miso yawns.

Despite his initial reaction, Sasuke does gradually warm up to Miso. He doesn’t play with him like Naruto does, but he tolerates the cat’s existence and lets him sit next to him on the couch as he reviews his paperwork in the evenings. 

On one truly glorious occasion, Naruto watches Miso crawl into Sasuke’s lap with a tired yawn. The man stiffens, looking both awkward and a little furious, staring down at the cat as though sizing it up. It’s only after several tense moments that he finally relaxes and resumes his reading. Naruto smiles to herself and says nothing.

The next time it happens, though, she can’t keep her peace. She’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, pretending to go over her sealing scrolls whilst staring at the two of them. Twenty minutes pass with Miso curled up in Sasuke’s lap before the man begins petting him gingerly.

“You like him!” Naruto shouts triumphantly. “I knew it!”

Sasuke glances up sharply, fixing her with a scowl. “Shut up,” he snarls, but he doesn’t stop petting Miso. 

Instead, he looks down at the cat and says, after a few minutes, “We’re changing his name. Miso is stupid.”

“It is not,” Naruto says hotly. “It’s an excellent name. There’s nothing better.”

“There’s plenty better.”

“Like what?”

Sasuke pauses, thinking it over. Naruto fights down a smile as a flush slowly creeps up Sasuke’s neck.

“Cat,” he mutters eventually.

Naruto stares at him. “You want to name him _Cat?_ You’re one unimaginative guy, you know that?”

“It’s simple and it makes sense,” Sasuke snaps. “I’m not calling him Miso.”

“Fine,” Naruto says. She picks up her scroll again, feeling oddly happy over the fact that they’re bickering again. She _missed_ this. “You call him Cat, and me and Kakashi will call him Miso. He won’t get confused since you barely even talk to him.”

Sasuke glances down at the cat, and if Naruto didn’t know any better, she’d think the man looks a little guilty. He shrugs after a while, going back to his book. “Cat it is.”

He only lasts two days before he gives up and begins calling him _Miso,_ muttering the name a little angrily when the cat attempts to chew one of his boots.

Things get better, but they also get a lot worse.

Miso is a dream come true. Naruto wakes up in the mornings with him sleeping on her belly, his soft puffs of his breath against her fingertips. He’s almost always by the door when she comes home from her lessons, and he eats from his bowl of cat food as she prepares herself a sandwich. In the afternoon, she plays with him by dangling a makeshift toy above his head for him to lunge at. In the evening, she’ll pet him for what feels like hours, delighting in every single purr and contented sigh. The old cat is calm and temperamental. Even in the rare instances he gets angry, she can’t bring herself to feel annoyed by his bites or scratches. 

It’s silly to get so attached to a pet, she knows, but it’s as if he’s always been by her side. Miso fits so neatly into her life and her heart that he feels like an old friend more than anything. Sometimes Naruto wakes up terrified that he does have owners after all, and that they’ll come and take him away from her. She calms herself by scratching his head and placing a long, gentle kiss on his neck.

Miso also seems to help her… _situation_ with Sasuke. The man isn’t nearly as fond of the cat as Naruto is and doesn’t properly play with him, but he gradually warms up to his presence. Ever the clean freak, he makes sure the cat’s litter box is always clean and that his bowls of food and water have been thoroughly washed ( _“Are you sure you rinsed properly, Naruto?”_ ). He takes the cat to the vet every few weeks and buys his food, horrified by the prospect of feeding it Naruto's cooking ( _“I don’t want you poisoning him, that’s all”_ ). He also doesn’t seem to mind that much when Miso chews contentedly on his boots or pens. 

They talk about Miso often, with the cat’s latest activities making up a good chunk of their conversations. It helps ease the topic into other things. Naruto will start off by describing the funny way Miso jumped off her bed, and Sasuke will wonder if the cat is maybe sick somehow, and then they’ll start talking about the weather and Sasuke’s day and Naruto’s prickly sealing sensei and if Kakashi will be on time to dinner as he promised.

One evening near the end of winter, as it snows outside, Naruto details a vivid dream she had in which Miso began speaking and threatening them. “His voice was so deep, it was so scary. He said he was going to file a petition to the Hokage against us for calling him Miso. Apparently it’s very degrading, so maybe there’s some truth to what you said after all—”

She stops speaking because Sasuke’s shoulders are shaking violently, his head dipped low so she can’t see his face. Naruto stares at him, feeling oddly panicked. “Are you okay?" 

Sasuke looks up, lips stretched into a smile, and she realises then that he’s _laughing._ “Yes,” he chuckles finally. “Your dream was stupid,” he adds by way of explanation.

Naruto doesn’t know what to say. Every time Sasuke smiles it’s as if her heart skips a beat, but now he’s laughing at something she said. He looks so young and happy and handsome. All she wants to do is make him laugh forever and ever. 

“Yeah,” she manages to say. “So, do you think it’s too late to start calling him Cat?”

And that’s how things get worse. Because with every passing day, she falls in love with him a little bit more. She never expected things to go back to normal after the incident. But now, things between them are _good_ — better than they’ve ever been, really. But that’s not enough for her. She’s selfish and stubborn, but she can’t help it.

Kakashi figures it out soon enough. When he’s over for dinner one evening, he waits until Sasuke’s in the bathroom before shaking his head at her. “You might as well write him a love letter at this point.”

“Will you be _quiet?”_ Naruto hisses, glancing at the bathroom door nervously. 

Kakashi shrugs, looking deeply amused. “I’m just saying, you’re not fooling anybody. And if it makes you feel better, he likes you too.” He taps the package of mochi on the table with his fingers. “I don’t think he’d buy you little treats if he didn’t.”

Naruto takes a deep breath, trying to control her anger. She doesn’t want to lose her temper with the person she trusts most in the world, even if he is being completely delusional. “There was a sale going on at the store. He told me so. Look, will you just drop it already? You told me this stuff before and I believed you. And look how that went.”

“I can read him better than you,” Kakashi insists. “I’ve known the kid for years now. I can tell when he’s holding himself back.”

“Holding himself back?” Naruto repeats skeptically. “From what?”

Kakashi pokes her on the back of her hand. “Let me tell you a secret. Sasuke’s a self-destructive idiot. He doesn’t think he deserves any happiness in life.”

Naruto stares at him. “What? Why not?”

“Survivor’s guilt, probably,” Kakashi says. “It can be…difficult.”

His posture is still relaxed, but there’s an edge to his voice that makes Naruto realise the man knows exactly what it feels like.

Kakashi has told Naruto before that she saved him just as much as he saved her. Even though they were separated by Danzo and the Council’s constant meddling, having his sensei’s daughter in the world gave him the willpower to push through. 

“The way you’ve always looked at me,” he’d once confessed, trying his best to sound cheerful, “makes me think I’m not a complete waste of space after all.” 

And Naruto had burst into tears on the spot, unable to understand why Kakashi could ever doubt himself, not when he was so good to her.

But unlike Kakashi, Sasuke has always been utterly alone. When he lost his clan he was only a child, still unsure of his place in the world. He didn’t have family or friends to see him through. He didn’t have anyone at all, and by the time he met Kakashi he was guarded, deeply jaded. 

“He deserves to be happy,” Naruto hears herself saying. “He deserves far more happiness than I could ever give him.”

Kakashi chuckles, shaking his head a little. “So now you’re putting yourself down? Oh, well. I love a good pity party.”

Naruto scowls at him, just as Sasuke returns to the table. He’s looking at them suspiciously. 

“Oh, Sasuke,” Kakashi says in his I’m about to suggest something you’ll probably hate voice. “I was thinking—”

“Whatever it is, we’re not interested,” Sasuke says immediately.

“—that you two should come to the spring festival,” Kakashi finishes, acting as though he hasn’t heard Sasuke at all.

“Festival?” Naruto says, sitting up with a start. “There’s a festival?”

Sasuke groans, looking like he wants to slam his head on the table. “Great. Thanks a lot, Kakashi.”

“Yes, Naruto,” Kakashi says. “We have one at the end of winter every year. It’s this Sunday.”

Naruto chews at her bottom lip. “I’ve never been to a festival before,” she says, imagining one of the scenes from her books: glittering lights, crowds of happy people, their laughter carrying through the air. 

“I wanted to take you when you were a child,” Kakashi explains gently. “But…”

“But Danzo’s a selfish motherfucker, I know,” she sighs. She glances at Sasuke and asks, a little hopefully, “Can we go?”

Kakashi shakes his head before the man can even respond. “Sasuke hates festivals. He hates celebratory events in general. He gets an allergic reaction whenever he’s around people smiling and enjoying themselves.”

Sasuke gives him a dirty look. “Why don’t _you_ take her if you like the idea so much?”

“I would, but I already have a date,” Kakashi says apologetically. “A very good-looking woman who works at the bookshop—”

“Kakashi!” Naruto cries. “What?”

“—And I don’t want to leave Naruto all alone in such a big crowd,” Kakashi finishes. He looks at Sasuke with a serious expression. “Anything can happen.”

Naruto glances at Sasuke, holding her breath nervously as the man mulls it over. He frowns for a long moment before he mutters, “Fine. We’ll go. But not for too long.”

“Yes!” Naruto cheers, waving her hands in the air in excitement. She’s going to a festival for the first time in her life. “What is it like? Is there food? Dancers?”

“How should I know?” Sasuke demands. He looks like he’s already regretting his decision to take her. “You’ll find out anyway.”

Naruto grins down at her plate, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest. “I guess I will.”

She sees Kakashi off at the door a little later, listening patiently as he describes his hot date. With a mug of tea in her hands, Naruto wonders if the woman actually exists, or if he invented her as part of his bizarre plot to make something happen between her and Sasuke. 

“Anyway, I’ll see you on Sunday,” he concludes. He raises his voice and adds, “Have fun with those dishes, Sasuke.”

From his place by the sink, Sasuke snaps, “Go home, Kakashi.”

Kakashi turns back to Naruto, his grey eyes twinkling. “He certainly didn’t put up a fight when I suggested he take you to the festival. He could have said no.”

Naruto’s grip on her mug tightens. “He just wanted to shut me up,” she mutters in response, because she _knows better._

Kakashi shakes his head with a sigh, wrapping his scarf a little tighter around his neck. “You’ll get there eventually,” he tells her. “It might take you guys fifty years, but you’ll get there. I’m sure of it.”

He gives her a pat on the shoulder before he heads out. It’s getting warmer now that winter has come to an end. Naruto’s already looking forward to the spring, and a festival seems like the perfect way to welcome the new season.

She’s heading back to the living room when Sasuke walks out of the kitchen and stops in front of her. 

“What was that about?” he inquires.

Naruto immediately blushes, praying he hadn’t heard any of her conversation with Kakashi. “He was just telling me about the festival.”

Sasuke nods. He stares at her for a second before clearing his throat. “So.”

“So,” Naruto repeats awkwardly. He’s looking at her expectantly. “Is there something you…wanted?” she asks, feeling oddly hopeful.

Sasuke frowns, pointing at her mug of tea. “Yes. Are you done with that?”

Naruto’s sure she’s as red as a tomato. She shakes her head and marches past him and into the living room. Stupid, _stupid_ Kakashi filling her head with stupid thoughts. “No. Not done. Thanks. I mean, sorry.”

She busies herself with petting Miso for the next half an hour, too embarrassed to do anything but sip her tea and wish the ground would swallow her up. 

The festival is even better than she expected.

Naruto stares, eyes wide, at the sight in front of her. It’s as if the description from her storybooks have come to life, far more vivid than her imagination could offer. There are more people she’s ever seen in a single place, shinobi and civilians alike, all dressed up and flitting around the festival grounds. 

Lights are everywhere, glowing strings going this way and that, wrapped around every single tree in the park. There are countless stalls offering delicious-smelling foods, stalls promising plush toys in exchange for a victorious game, little booths selling arts and crafts and painting children’s faces as all kinds of animals. Naruto resists the urge to laugh at a little girl running around with a fox painted on her face. 

“Cute,” she says.

What she loves most is how happy everyone looks. They’re laughing, talking, cheering, enjoying the last day of winter before the new season sets in. She soaks in their joy, feeling a smile come to her own face in response. 

Sasuke is right by her side as they walk around the festival grounds. He’s wearing his version of civilian clothes, which basically consists of his uniform without the jacket and his sword (though Naruto saw him tuck two kunai away before they left). It’s the same thing he wore to their wedding, but he’s so handsome he manages to make the rather depressing outfit look good. 

Naruto had opted for pants and her favourite orange sweater, but she feels underdressed compared to everyone else. “I didn’t know everyone would look so fancy,” she mumbles. 

Sasuke glances at her briefly. “You look fine.”

The simple response makes her grin a little stupidly. They’re just walking around rather aimlessly, but she wants to take everything in before she gets started. 

“So,” Sasuke says once they’ve done a full loop around the grounds. His hands are shoved in his pockets and he looks extremely bored. “What now?”

Naruto looks around thoughtfully before she spots a stall selling grilled snacks. She smiles. “Now, we eat.”

Despite his complete disinterest in the festival, Sasuke is very patient with her. He pays for everything, which makes sense considering the fact that Naruto has never had access to money in her life. She overhears a few people muttering about how overpriced the place is, but Sasuke doesn’t look bothered. 

“Do you want some?” she asks for the fifth time, offering him yet another piece of her food. This time, she’s eating a donut, holding the sweet snack carefully as they make their way through the festival crowds.

Sasuke shakes his head. 

Naruto hums, taking another bite. “I hope Miso is okay.”

“He’s probably sleeping,” Sasuke responds. “Or eating my boots.” 

Just then, a man bumps into Naruto harshly. She scrambles to grab her donut before it falls to the floor. “Hey!” 

“Watch it,” the man snaps. 

Sasuke shoves at him, making him stumble back several steps. “You watch it, idiot.”

The man looks like he’s about to start brawling, but he looks up and sees Sasuke’s face before going pale. He takes a few steps back, raising his hands. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“So keep it moving,” Sasuke orders, and the man quickly does as he’s told.

Naruto stares at Sasuke. “He knows who you are?”

“Most people here do,” he shrugs. His face is pinched in discomfort, and Naruto can tell he’s itching to leave.

Taking pity on him, she finishes up her donut and nods to one of the game stalls. It’s offering a variety of toys to anyone who shoots down five consecutive cones. 

“One more thing before we go?” she asks with a grin.

Sasuke follows her gaze before his lips twitch in a small smile of his own. “You can't be serious.”

“I’ve never been to a festival before,” Naruto says defensively. “I want the full experience.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, but he follows her to the stall. He pays for Naruto’s round and stands back, crossing his arms. “Let’s see if your training’s paid off. You do know how to aim now, right?”

Naruto bristles indignantly. “Yes, I do,” she says hotly, remembering their first (unofficial) lesson with a little embarrassment. She’s come a long way since then, and she’s determined to prove it.

He doesn’t smile at her when she successfully shoots all of the cones down, but there is something flickering in his eyes. “Not bad,” he grumbles out. “Even if it is designed for civilians.”

“It wouldn’t kill you to pay me a compliment every now and then,” Naruto sighs, but she can't stop smiling.

“Which prize would you like, ma’am?” the shopkeeper asks.

Naruto looks around thoughtfully. There are dozens and dozens of toys of all sizes, ranging from huge stuffed animals to little snow-globes. But then she spots a small white keychain with a pink swirl in the middle and grins. _Perfect._

“That one,” she says at once.

But when the man hands it to her, she doesn’t put it in her pocket. Instead, she hands it over to Sasuke with a grin. “Here you go, Uchiha-sensei.”

Sasuke blinks down at the keychain, looking utterly bewildered. “What?”

“I wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for you teaching me,” Naruto explains, fighting down a blush. She shrugs. “Plus, it’s kinda funny. It's Naruto. Get it?”

Sasuke takes it from her, an unreadable expression on his face. “Hilarious,” he says finally. “Can we go now?”

“Sure,” Naruto says. It’s dark now, and the park is gradually emptying out as more and more people head home. She’s feeling a little tired herself, and she’s pleasantly full from all the snacks she’s consumed. 

They stroll languidly through the festival ground, enjoying the cool summer air as they make their way home. 

He might not want her in the way she wants, but at least she has this. 

But a week later, Sasuke begins acting differently.

He’s distracted during their lessons and during their walks home. He doesn’t bother to correct her with the same firmness when she makes a mistake, and he barely pays attention to her when she speaks. Naruto will often have to call his name before he realises she’s talking to him. His responses are always brief, blunt to the point of being rude.

It hurts, at first, and she wonders why he’s behaving so strangely. She wonders if it’s her fault, if his disgust with her has finally caught up with him and he now realises he doesn’t want anything to do with her. 

But she realises things are a lot more serious than that. Sasuke barely eats breakfast or dinner anymore. If Kakashi comes over, he settles on the couch with a glass of water. He stays up late at night, staying on the couch long after she’s gone to bed, staring intently at his book or his scroll even though his eyes are hardly moving. He ignores Miso entirely, pushing the cat away when he tries to curl up in his lap. His skin is paler than usual, and there are bags under his eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Naruto finally asks during their lessons one morning, feeling worried. “We can stop now if you feel sick.”

He shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

Naruto stares at him before she decides to drop it. It’s obvious he’s not going to talk to her about it.

After a few days, she asks Kakashi about it while Sasuke is in the bathroom. “Do you think he’s sick?” she whispers.

For once, Kakashi doesn’t have any jokes prepared. “No,” he tells her quietly. “He’s mourning.”

It doesn’t take long for Naruto to understand what he’s telling her. “His clan,” she says. “Is it…how many years has it been?”

“Fifteen,” Kakashi says. The man looks older than she’s ever seen him. “Just give him space, Naruto.”

This is the first time she’s seen Kakashi taking Sasuke’s feelings seriously. She nods, letting out a shaky exhale as she starts putting the dishes in the sink. Sasuke doesn’t return to the dinner table for the rest of the evening.

But that night, Naruto wakes up to the sound of him walking around the living room. She gets out of bed and makes her way towards the sound of his footsteps, blinking blearily in the darkness.

“Sasuke,” she mumbles as she turns the light on. “Are you okay?”

Sasuke is standing by the window, gripping the windowpane as he stares out into the dark night, an unreadable expression on his face. He glances at her when she switches the light on, and she can see the deep circles under his eyes.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he admits finally. “Go back to bed, Naruto.”

But she doesn’t. She can’t just leave him here, not when his grief is tearing him apart. She hates the fact that he’s hurting, and she wants so desperately to take his pain away. 

Sasuke doesn’t look up at her as she approaches him tentatively. 

“I know it’s not my business,” she says quietly. “And it’s not my place. But Kakashi told me about … today. We don’t have to have our lessons tomorrow.”

Sasuke is silent for a long time. He stares out of the window with a blank look on his face, watching the trees sway back and forth. “Not your place,” he finally repeats, his voice quiet.

Naruto swallows. There’s no anger in his voice, but she takes a shaky breath all the same. “Yes. I know.”

“No,” Sasuke says. He turns to look at her, and there’s something heated in his eyes. “It _is._ You’re my — you shouldn’t have to —” 

He stops speaking with a shake of his head, looking frustrated with himself, before turning back to look out of the window. 

Naruto stands there, unsure of what to do. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she says finally, dipping her head a little. She’s about to leave and go back to her bedroom when he speaks again.

“Fifteen years,” Sasuke mutters, shaking his head. “You’d think I’d be over it by now.”

“Over it?” Naruto repeats in disbelief. She takes another step towards him. “I don’t think anyone could ever get over something like that, Sasuke.”

When she says his name, he stiffens slightly, but he doesn’t turn around. He keeps looking out the window even though it’s pitch black outside.

“I know it’s not my place,” Naruto tries again, “but if you want to talk about it—”

“Stop saying that,” Sasuke says suddenly. He finally turns his head to look at her, a deep frown on his face. “That it’s not your _place._ This is your home.” 

Naruto stares at him, unsure of what to say. She thinks of their second meeting, when he’d visited her late at night. She’d tried to tell him she understood his pain, only for him to tell her she knew _nothing._

Sasuke seems to know what she’s thinking. His frown deepens, and he turns around to face her properly. “What I said to you that night,” he says quietly. “It was wrong. I shouldn’t have said it.”

Naruto still doesn’t know how to respond. She stands there, staring at him and taking deep breaths to steady herself. _This is all wrong. I’m the one who should be comforting you,_ she thinks. 

Eventually, Sasuke is the one who fills the heavy silence. “Talk about it?” he says after a while. “I’m not very good at talking.”

Naruto gives him a lopsided smile. “I know that much,” she says, keeping her voice light. She takes a few more steps towards him until she’s only a few inches away.

“But it’s okay to feel upset. It’s okay to miss them. They were your family, after all.”

Sasuke taps his fingers against the window panes, staring at her for a long moment before he turns away again.

“I know you’ve suffered, too,” he says. “I just don’t know how you can be so — so positive.”

Naruto can’t help it. She laughs, and the sound makes him look back at her sharply. 

“Not always,” she promises. “Trust me. It used to be pretty bad when I was still living in that building. I used to wonder if I was even a human being, you know.” When Sasuke frowns at her, she explains, “If enough people keep treating you like a monster, you start to wonder if there’s any truth to it.”

He’s silent for a long moment before he swallows. “And now?”

“Now, what?” Naruto asks.

“Do you still feel that way?” Sasuke says. “Do I treat you like a — you know.”

Naruto gapes at him, heart pounding in her chest. _“No,”_ she breathes, stepping even closer to him now. He stares down at her skeptically, and she wants to shake him until her words sink in. 

“No, Sasuke,” she tells him slowly. “You don’t. Just because you’re prickly sometimes doesn’t mean you treat me like a monster.” 

She thinks of Anzu, and she wonders how on Earth the man standing in front of her could equate himself to _that._ “You’re — you’re good. You’re kind to me.”

“Kind?” Sasuke repeats, looking amused.

“Yes,” Naruto insists. She runs a hand through her hair, trying to make him understand. “Listen to me, okay? Kakashi and Tsunade were all I had once. Now I have you.” The words make her flush, but she carries on speaking because he _has to know._ “Kakashi is good to me because he was my father’s student. Tsunade is kind to me because she’s the leader of the village. You’re good to me just _because.”_

“Because I’m your husband,” Sasuke corrects wryly. “And because Kakashi will kick my ass if I mistreat you.”

“It’s not that simple,” Naruto says, shaking her head. “You listen to me, even though I talk a lot. I do stupid things all the time, I know, but you’re patient with me. You play with Miso and you buy me snacks on your way home from work and you teach me how to make ramen from scratch just because I ask. You don’t have to do any of it, but you do.” 

She scrubs at her face and thinks _fuck it._ He has to know.“And it makes me happy. _You_ make me happy.”

Her face is still covered by her hands. She knows Sasuke is staring at her now, probably bewildered and confused, but she can't stop the words from tumbling out.

“I’ve never felt this happy before. I didn’t know anyone _could_ ever feel so happy. I thought I’d ruined everything by trying to kiss you that one time, but I didn’t, because you’re kind. And I know it’s pretty obvious how I feel about you, and I might be crossing the line again by bringing it up again, and — but that's not the point. The point is that I know what a bad man is like, and I don’t want you think of yourself that way—”

Sasuke grabs her wrists and pulls her hands down slowly, looking her in the face. “Naruto,” he says. “Breathe.”

“I am breathing,” she tells him, snatching her hands back. “This is all wrong. I’m supposed to be making you feel better.”

“I do feel better,” Sasuke says easily, leaning against the wall. There’s a small smile on his lips, and she can’t tear her eyes away. 

“It’s not everyday I get such a blazing love confession,” he continues, and the words make her flush as she realises the full extent of what she’s just told him. “Though I think the tears are a little much.”

“Tears?” Naruto repeats dumbly, touching her face. _Of course_ she’s crying. “Shit,” she hisses, wiping the tears away quickly, feeling utterly humiliated, but she stops when he calls her name.

“Naruto,” he says.

And when she looks up, Sasuke leans down and kisses her.

Naruto freezes, standing there awkwardly, her heart pounding in her chest. Sasuke’s lips are pressed against hers, softer than she ever imagined, one warm hand holding her by the waist.

He pulls away after a few brief seconds. “It’s what I was meant to do that night,” he mutters a little awkwardly. “Instead of pulling away.”

Naruto stares at him dumbly, mouth still slightly open. He kissed her. Sasuke _kissed_ her. 

“So I wasn’t just imagining it,” she whispers.

”Imagining what?” Sasuke asks.

“You looking at me,” Naruto mumbles. “Staring at me. In a way that looked kind of…interested.”

“Oh,” Sasuke says. There’s a small blush on his cheeks. “Well.”

“It’s okay,” Naruto tells him quickly. “You can look. I mean, I was looking at you.”

“I know,” Sasuke says, his flush deepening. He glances away towards the window. “You’re not exactly subtle.”

Naruto scratches at her cheek, trying to hide her embarrassment behind a smile. This whole situation is so surreal, she has to wonder if she’s dreaming it. “This is so awkward,” she blurts out.

“I _know,”_ Sasuke snaps.

Naruto opens her mouth to make a joke about it, but she realises how tired Sasuke looks. It’s almost three in the morning, and he has to leave for work in a few hours.

“You need to sleep,” she decides after a moment. “Wait here.”

It’s stupidly brave, she knows, but it’s worth a shot. Maybe it’s the adrenaline coursing through her veins now that he’s kissed her and now that she knows that he wants her, that he feels the same way.

Naruto rushes to her bedroom. She pauses to pinch herself, grinning when nothing happens. And then grabs her orange blanket and returns to the living room. She holds it up with a flourish.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Sit down,” Naruto tells him. After a brief pause, Sasuke sits down on the couch. She puts the blanket on the floor before rearranging all of the cushions, remembering the perfect structure she’d relied upon during her own sleepless nights in her new home. 

“Lay down a bit,” Naruto says, and he slowly does as he’s told, eyebrows still raised a little skeptically as he’s leaning more firmly against the cushions.

Naruto then covers him in her blanket, fighting down a laugh at how ridiculous he looks in the bright orange material. “It’s a weighted blanket. I got it a few years ago from the Hokage. It helps when I can’t sleep, and so does the living room. Something about more spacious areas.” 

She shrugs, feeling awkward under the intensity of his gaze. “That’s why I was sleeping out here back then. Not because my bed was lumpy.”

Sasuke doesn’t say anything, just sits there under the weight of the blanket, watching her thoughtfully. Naruto takes a few steps back and nods, cheeks flaming at her own bravery. “Give it a shot. And try to get some sleep, okay?”

She’s about to head back to her own bedroom when he asks, “Don’t you need it?”

Naruto turns back to him. “The blanket? Ah, not really,” she responds. “I’m sure one night won’t be a problem. Plus I’m getting better—”

Sasuke stares at her for a moment before suddenly lifting the blanket up. “Come.”

Naruto’s eyes widen. “Huh?”

“Put the light off,” he tells her. “And get in here.”

Naruto scrambles over to turn the light off before she makes her way over to the couch, unable to believe her luck. _I must be dreaming, I must be,_ she thinks, as Sasuke covers her with the blanket. They’re pressed against each other, leaning back against the comfortable cushions. 

“Sleep,” he orders, as though he can hear how loud and chaotic her thoughts are.

Naruto closes her eyes and tries to drift off, but her heart is still racing. Sasuke’s breathing evens out even faster than hers, but she can tell he’s still awake. He’s so warm, and he smells like his fresh, sweet-smelling shampoo. 

“Sasuke,” she says after a few minutes.

“What?” the man asks, voice gruff.

"Sorry I didn't kiss you back," she mumbles. "I _wanted_ to. I've wanted to for a long time, actually. I was just surprised." 

Sasuke huffs out a little laugh. "Yeah, I could tell." 

Naruto smiles into the warmth of the blanket, pressing her lips together at the memory of their kiss. Her _first_ kiss. She should close her eyes and sleep already, but she has one more question. 

“But if you felt the same way,” she whispers into the dark, “then why didn’t you say anything sooner? Or do anything?”

Sasuke is quiet for so long, she wonders if he’s finally fell asleep. But then he swallows. “I don’t know.”

Naruto hums thoughtfully. The answer doesn’t annoy her as much as it should, because she knows the answer is out there. Maybe it has something to do with what Kakashi told her. Maybe Sasuke will tell her himself some day. Some day, because now she knows they have countless days and nights ahead of them which they’ll spend together. The thought fills her with delight, and she moves in a little closer to Sasuke’s side.

And because she’s still feeling far braver than she has any right to, she searches around until she finds his hand under the blanket. She runs her fingers along the warm, calloused skin of his palm and smiles to herself. 

“Good night, Sasuke,” she whispers, linking their fingers together. 

Sasuke shifts a little, but he doesn’t pull his hand away. 

And a while later, as her eyelids start to droop closed and she drifts off into a deep sleep, Naruto can faintly feel Sasuke lift her hand up. 

He brushes his lips against the back of her palm for the briefest moment before exhaling slowly. “Good night.”


	9. Sasuke

Their routine doesn’t change too much after that. They wake up at the same time, carry on with their training, and still eat dinner at the same time every evening. Miso still continues to disrupt Sasuke’s peace, and Kakashi continues to harass them with his weekend visits.

But they touch each other now. They also kiss. _Constantly._

He can’t make sense of it. Sasuke has always prided himself on his self-control and his sense of discipline, but it’s as if he can’t get enough of her. And it's as if _she_ can’t get enough of him. 

They’ll be sitting on the couch together, poring over their respective scrolls or books, and then Naruto will brush her fingers against his arm and give him a _look._ Or Naruto will be washing the dishes and Sasuke will be hovering over her, trying to make sure she’s doing it properly, even though there’s only one thing on his mind. Naruto will finish up and turn around, watching him carefully. The end result of each scenario is always the same. 

It’s new to him — all the kissing and the touching. But Sasuke likes it, and it’s as if she can tell when he’s craving her touch. She has a habit of smiling into their kisses, laughing into his mouth whenever he’s the one to initiate things. It makes him want to smile, too.

They sleep together almost every night now, with Naruto pressed up against his side in his bed. It’s far more comfortable than the couch, even if Miso tends to scratch at the door until he’s allowed to curl up next to them.

Naruto is a deep sleeper. A _very_ deep sleeper. The slightest sound will wake Sasuke up at once, but she sleeps like a log and hardly stirs through the entire night. It means he doesn’t disturb her by his own tossing and turning when he can’t sleep (though those nights are rare now, thankfully. He wonders if having her by her side has something to do with it).

Naruto talks in her sleep, too. Not loudly, thankfully, but it makes sense that she’s chatty even when she’s not awake. She mumbles a few words and nonsensical phrases, bits and pieces of whatever she’s dreaming about or whatever’s on her mind. Sasuke once heard her mutter “ramen” under her breath and had to muffle his surprised laughter with a pillow. 

The most noteworthy thing is that Naruto clings to Sasuke in her sleep, as though he were some kind of pillow. She tugs at his arm and pulls it towards her, gripping tight. Sasuke tries to push her away each time, bewildered and half-asleep himself, but she’s always back within a few minutes. 

“Sorry,” she says, deeply embarrassed when he points it out on the third morning. “I had no idea I did that. Maybe I should go back to my room.”

Sasuke just shakes his head. Despite her clinging and other odd quirks, he _likes_ having Naruto in his bed. There’s no point denying the fact that it’s what he’s wanted for a long time now. He likes the warmth she provides, and the feel of her soft skin and hair against him. He likes having her scent on his pillowcase and the knowledge that she's there. 

“I’ll get used to it,” he tells her, and he eventually does. (He doesn’t want to think about what might happen in the summer when the heatwaves kick in, but they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it).

But it doesn't take long for the clinging to start having some interesting…side effects.

Naruto mostly just grips his forearm and pulls it towards her as she sleeps, but one night she actually tries to wrap her legs around him as he’s drifting off. Sasuke immediately pulls away as her leg brushes against his crotch, startled by her actions. Naruto just sighs and rolls onto her front, still fast asleep, and he’s so taken aback it takes a long time for him to fall asleep again.

A few nights later, as it’s nearing sunrise, Sasuke wakes up to Naruto burying her face in his neck. He can feel her breasts pressing against his arm and her nipples through the thin material of her shirt. She inhales deeply, body relaxing even more.

 _“Sasuke,”_ she practically moans into his ear, and Sasuke has to rush to the bathroom to jerk off before she wakes up and sees he's hard.

Naruto has no idea about the effects of her touchy-feely behaviour, and he absolutely refuses to mention it to her. Despite the change in their relationship, he doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable by discussing or even suggesting sex. He wants her — _of course_ he wants her — but she's still so new to this. And he doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable, either.

This carries on for almost two weeks — two weeks of Naruto being content to kiss him and touch him innocently while she's awake, her touch growing bolder while she’s asleep; two weeks of Sasuke spending the early morning in the shower and becoming overly familiar with his right hand — before things reach a boiling point.

They’re sparring at the end of one of their sessions, the spring sun gleaming through the canopy of the forest. Naruto badgers him into teaching her a new technique to pin someone down. She got a glimpse of him teaching some of the ANBU one afternoon, and thinks it’s the _coolest thing ever._

Sasuke doesn’t think she’s ready to try it out yet — it’s designed for a battlefield, not for newbies — but after some whining and pleading and various promises to do the laundry until the end of time, he agrees to show her how to do it. 

“No, don’t lift your arm up so much,” he’s saying as he grips her elbow and pushes it down a little. “You leave yourself open to attack.”

“Got it,” Naruto says. She’s frowning in concentration as she stares at her arm, and it pleases him to see how seriously she takes their lessons. She’s come a long way, and he wants to get started on ninjutsu now she knows the basics. 

He takes a step back. “Try again.”

Naruto pauses for a moment as she recalls the steps in her mind. She tries the technique out, but still falters towards the end. 

“Not bad,” Sasuke tells her. “But still a little slow. You have to pick up the speed in the final steps, or your enemy can take advantage and escape your hold. Again.”

Naruto tries it out once more, and Sasuke lets her push him to the ground and pin him down. She’s straddling his hips, the kunai in her hand pointed towards her face.

“That was good, right?” she asks with a pleased smile. “I think I got it!”

Sasuke opens his mouth to respond when he feels her shift a little to steady herself. She’s leaning over him now, her jacket zipper pulled down so that he can see the outline of her breasts, and her ass is right above his crotch. Her pants are made of the same thin material as her shirts _(why doesn’t she ever wear any proper clothing?)_ so he can practically feel the curve of her ass pressed against him.

Sasuke feels his face start to heat up and his blood rush south. “You got it,” he tells her quickly, praying desperately that his body doesn’t betray him any more. It’s no use. 

Naruto watches him carefully. “Uh…are you alright? You’re all red.”

“You can get up now,” Sasuke manages to grit out. 

“Sorry,” Naruto says, but she doesn’t get up just yet. She looks concerned. “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” Sasuke hisses out, but she just shifts her hips a little more so that her ass is pressed even more firmly against his crotch. Sasuke lets out a groan at the sensation of her rubbing herself against him. 

Naruto frowns at the sound and at unfamiliar feeling of his hardness. She glances down, confused, but then her eyes widen and she stares up at him. 

“Oh,” she says.

“Get off me,” Sasuke snaps again, and Naruto scrambles away from him. She’s blushing furiously, but he knows his own face is even redder as he gets to his feet.

They stand there awkwardly, not looking at each other in the silence that follows, before he comes to his senses and clears his throat.

“We should go,” he mutters. His erection has mostly subsided as a result of the sheer embarrassment he’s feeling. “Don’t want to be late.”

Naruto nods quickly, and she follows him out of the forest and back to their apartment to get changed. He waits for her by the door, cursing himself and his body for reacting like a horny teenager.

The walk to HQ is silent, but Naruto keeps glancing at him from the corner of her eye when she thinks he’s not looking. To Sasuke’s relief, she doesn’t seem angry or disgusted. Sasuke isn’t sure what to make of it, but as they reach the entrance to the building, she gives him a smile.

“See you later, Sasuke,” she says warmly, and then she’s gone.

Sasuke watches her go. Despite the awkward, painful humiliation of the morning’s events, he can’t help but watch the sway of her hips and tantalising curve of her ass as she walks away. He clears his throat, realising he _really_ needs to get his shit together.

Naruto doesn’t mention it over dinner. That evening, she’s staring out of the bedroom window as Miso nips at her feet. She’s in one of her quieter moods, not unhappy or angry, but pensive. It always unsettles him to see her this way, having grown so used to the sound of her voice and laughter every day and night.

Sasuke stares at her from his seat on the bed, book in his lap long forgotten as he wonders how best to breach the topic. He wonders if this is how she’d felt like the first time she tried to kiss him: awkward, unsure, and a little guilty.

“Naruto,” he says finally.

She turns to look at him, pulling her foot back away from Miso. “Yeah?”

He struggles with what to say next. Naruto watches him patiently as he takes his time to put the words together.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he tells her. 

Naruto looks at him blankly, as though the notion is completely alien to her. “You don’t make me uncomfortable.”

Sasuke glances up at the ceiling with a scowl. “This morning…” he trails off, wishing for once he had her ability to speak freely and without reservation. “I don’t want you think I’m some kind of…”

Naruto looks at him carefully. “Some kind of?”

 _“Pervert,”_ Sasuke grits out. He feels humiliated just saying the word, and it doesn’t help that Naruto bursts out laughing.

“I wouldn’t think that,” she says, waving a hand dismissively. “Sheesh. It’s not a big deal. I mean, you already stare at me plenty. And _I_ stare at you. Besides…”

It’s her turn to hesitate now, and she turns a little red. She’s silent for a few awkward moments, but eventually, she manages to mumble, “Besides, it’s not like _I_ don’t…” she hesitates and adds, so quiet he almost misses it completely, “…want it.”

Sasuke stares at her, a blush rising to his own cheeks as he understands. From his place on the couch, Miso yawns — no doubt unimpressed by the two of them and their embarrassing inability to communicate properly.

“Oh,” Sasuke says carefully. “I see.”

“Yes,” Naruto nods, refusing to meet his gaze. She stares out of the window, still nodding to herself. Her face is bright red now. 

_Fuck it,_ Sasuke thinks to himself suddenly.

He gets up from the bed and walks over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her around to face him. Naruto almost always initiates their kisses, but now he’s the one leaning down to press his lips against hers.

She sighs into the kiss, putting her hands on his waist. Sasuke pulls her even closer to him, pressing her body against his. It doesn't take long for Sasuke's pants to tighten, not when she's melting against him and groaning into his mouth desperately, all previous embarrassment forgotten. Sasuke moves his lips further down to suck at her neck, and she gasps.

Sasuke pulls back up at the sound. Naruto’s eyes are wide, her cheeks flushed red.

“That,” she breathes, voice shaky. “That feels nice.”

Sasuke feels himself harden even more at her words. He looks at her lips — so pink and so full —before glancing up at her again. _Fuck it._ There’s no point holding back anymore, not when they both want this so badly.

“Naruto,” he begins. “Do you want to—”

 _“Yes,”_ she says shakily, and leans up to meet him halfway as he slots their lips together again. Naruto’s fingers are tangled in his hair, and she lets out a little groan as he licks his way into her mouth, leading her over to the bed.

When they pull apart for air, she’s laying on her back and he’s hovering over her. Naruto is unfazed by the change in position and tugs at his shirt, urging him to take it off. Sasuke yanks it over his head and throws it to the side, and is about to lean down to kiss her again when she stops him, hands pressed flat against his chest.

He’s confused, at first, wondering if she means to stop completely. But all she does is touch him. Naruto takes her time with it, running her fingers across his abs, his collarbone, even his nipples, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Sasuke breathes steadily, trying not to let her touch get to him, even though every soft, warm brush of her fingers across his skin make him harden in his trousers even more. Eventually, Naruto reaches up to hold his face in her hands, and stares at him so intensely it makes him flush.

“Sasuke,” she says, her tone serious. “You’re _handsome.”_

He stares at her for a moment before letting out a chuckle, unable to stop himself. Of all the things he was expecting her to say, that wasn’t it. “Shut up.”

“I’m just being honest,” she continues, grinning as he ducks his head in embarrassment. “ _Very_ handsome. Are you sure you want to do this with _me_?” 

Her voice is teasing, but her words make him pull back and stare at her. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Naruto lifts her chin up. “Well, yeah, but—”

“So yes, I want to do this with you,” he tells her calmly, before pressing his hips more firmly against hers. She can feel his arousal, hot and heavy against her thigh, and turns her head away with a blush.

She’s quiet for so long he’s worried he might have taken things too far. He’s about to pull away completely when she finally turns her head to look up at him, her blue gaze piercing.

“I’ve never done this before,” she admits finally. “Is that alright?”

Sasuke exhales slowly, leaning down again to kiss her. _It’s alright, it’s more than alright,_ he wants to tell her, because he’s never felt this way about any of the women he’s taken to bed before, and he has never wanted anyone this badly. It almost feels as if _he’s_ never done this before, either. 

Naruto’s eyes flutter shut, and she parts her mouth to return the kiss, moving her lips languidly against his. When Sasuke slides his tongue against her lips, she lets out a little huff of breath and reaches up to place a hand on his back, pressing him against her more firmly.

Sasuke takes his time with it, even though her cheeks are flushed, her pupils dilated and her chest heaving up and down in impatience. He wants her so much it hurts, but he also wants to savour every second. He can’t even take his eyes off her, even as his hands slowly lift her shirt over her head and tug her trousers and underwear down; even as his fingers dart along the smooth, soft skin of her thighs and belly and breasts. He watches her carefully, taking in every whimper, every flutter of her eyelids, every flare of her nostrils as his touches become bolder and more insistent. 

_Come on, _she hisses when he finally has two fingers inside of her, moving inside of her slowly. Her head is thrown back on the pillow and she’s trembling, pushing back against his hand desperately until she finally comes.__

____

____

____

____

Sasuke leans up to kiss the side of her throat as comes back to earth. He forces himself to stay calm as he asks if she’s ready, as he works at his belt buckle and strokes a hand up and down his length. But as he settles between her thighs, he’s almost trembling in anticipation. 

It’s no surprise, really, that Naruto is loud even in bed. Sasuke can tell she’s trying to keep her voice down, no doubt out of embarrassment, but as he pushes inside she lets out a deep, heavy moan. 

She gets even louder once she's adjusted and he starts moving properly, head swimming with the sight of her spread out underneath him; the sound of her name on her lips and his skin against hers; the knowledge that he is the first (and _last_ ) to have her like this. 

“Sasuke,” she chokes out between gasps, “I —“ 

She cut herself off, wrapping her arms around him and moving her hips to meet his thrusts as best as she can. 

And he can’t blame her, not when his own mind is clouded by how incredible it feels inside of her, how she’s squeezing around his length with every blissful thrust. Sasuke can’t stop touching her, either; one hand pressed firmly against the curve of her soft, perfect ass as he fucks her, the fingers of his left reaching up to toy with her nipples, moving down between her legs. Her body seizes up and she digs her nails into his back, whining against the skin of his throat as she comes again.

He’s reaching his own peak, thrusting hard and fast, when he absently brushes his fingers against her soft, full lips. Naruto’s eyes flutter open. She stares up at him, blue eyes lined with unshed tears from her own orgasm, before she smiles up at him shakily. Then she presses a gentle, feather-light kiss against his fingertips.

Sasuke’s Sharingan comes to life, burning the picture into his memory, and he comes with a loud, guttural groan. He immediately collapses on the bed beside her, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief. He hasn’t come that hard in years.

She’s panting heavily in the afterglow, her skin shiny with sweat, but she turns on her side to look at him. “Wow,” she breathes.

Sasuke pushes his hair back with a shaky hand. _No kidding,_ he wants to say, or maybe _Holy shit._ But instead, he glances at her and asks, “How do you feel?”

Naruto stares at him for a moment. Her lips twist up into a smile before she turns onto her back with a sigh. “I feel…rejuvenated.”

“Rejuvenated,” Sasuke repeats blankly. “Not…sore? Or tired?”

“It felt good,” Naruto carries on. “It wasn’t painful, just a little uncomfortable at first. I mean, a couple of fingers aren’t really that much compared to your…you know? But once I got used to it, and you started moving properly, it got _really_ good. It—”

 _“Okay,”_ Sasuke interrupts, trying not to flush at how candid her words are. “I didn’t ask for a full review.”

Naruto lifts her head to give him a grin, though it looks more like a leer than anything. She’s glowing all over. Rejuvenated, indeed. 

“I just thought you might wanna know, since you’re such a perfectionist,” she says. She pauses a beat before asking, “Well? How did I do, _sensei?”_

“Don’t,” Sasuke snaps at once, even though his dick twitches in interest. _No, no, no,_ he chants inwardly. _Do not go there, Uchiha._

Naruto cackles into his shoulder. 

They spend the rest of the evening in bed, legs tangled lazily in the sheets as they lay side by side. Naruto shifts after a while so his head is resting against her stomach and she has access to his hair. She plays with it for an hour, her fingers gentle as she twists the locks into little plaits before taking them out and doing it all over again. Sasuke shuts his eyes and doesn’t complain, because it feels good. Relaxing, even. 

Miso joins them after a while, curling up at the foot of the bed. Naruto shuts down Sasuke’s complaints about the cat’s presence being creepy _(“Why would he care if we’re naked? He’s naked, too!”)_ , tugging on his hair a little when he suggests they kick him out of the room entirely.

They shower together before they go to sleep, and Sasuke works very hard to keep his hands to himself, even as Naruto openly stares at him and brushes her fingers against him far too frequently for it to be an accident. He indulges her by letting her wash his hair, realising he’s quickly growing addicted to the feeling of her touching him.

 _“Really handsome,”_ she mutters to herself a little as she rubs shampoo into his hair, and it feels so nice he can't bring himself to tell her to shut up.

Sasuke is busy working with Shikamaru the following day. They’re planning out an upcoming two week-long mission to escort Tsunade to a Kage conference in the Land of Wind, considering all the possible threats that may emerge. Shikamaru listens to his plans carefully, providing his own ideas and suggestions as he puffs on a cigarette.

Which is when Naruto approaches them, rushing through the courtyard as though trying to get away from someone. “Hey, Sasuke!”

“Naruto?” Sasuke says, surprised. Her lessons don’t finish for another ten minutes. “What are you doing here?”

“My lesson finished early for once,” Naruto shrugs. “So I thought I’d come and find you.”

She notices Shikamaru watching the two of them curiously and smiles. “Hi, my name is Naruto. I’m Sasuke’s…I’m married to Sasuke.” 

Shikamaru gives her a smile of his own. “Nara Shikamaru,” he says swiftly, extending a hand for her to shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

He ignores the way Sasuke glares at him as Naruto shakes his hand. “Wow, really? Hopefully nothing too bad!”

Shikamaru just twists his lips into a smirk, glancing at Sasuke for a moment. “Of course not.”

Naruto manages to share her entire life story to Shikamaru in a matter of six minutes, including her hobbies, favourite foods, and an additional chapter on Miso. To his credit, the man doesn’t let his expression shift into its usual one of complete boredom. In fact, he asks polite questions to keep the conversation going, and answers Naruto’s never-ending questions about him and his clan and his childhood. Sasuke ignores them both and surveys the courtyard, watching as some shinobi pause to stare at the newcomer on the scene. 

He recognises one of them from the wedding ceremony. Anzu, an annoying piece of shit who works directly under Danzo. He's watching them from the entrance to HQ, arms crossed over his broad chest as he glares at the two of them. 

Naruto is still rambling on, oblivious. “But if I had to guess, I’d say he was twelve years old, maybe thirteen? Just by the way his fur is—” 

“Naruto,” Sasuke interrupts suddenly. “Let’s go.”

Naruto hums, looking a little disappointed. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Shikamaru. Hey, why don’t you come for dinner? Are you free anytime soon? Sasuke is a really good cook, you know.”

Sasuke glares at the man, but it’s no use. “I would love to,” Shikamaru says. “I didn’t know you were a chef, Uchiha.”

Naruto cheerfully invites him over for dinner on the weekend, and as Sasuke finally drags her away she gives Shikamaru a wave goodbye. Instead of waving, Sasuke gives the man a cold look that holds a promise to kick his ass first thing tomorrow morning. Shikamaru just smiles and turns away.

Naruto doesn’t pull her arm back from Sasuke as they make their way out of the courtyard. Instead, she leans in to his side a little closer with a smile. “You talk about me to your friends, huh?”

“He’s not my friend,” Sasuke says at once. “And no. He was lying.”

“Do you even have friends?” she inquires curiously. “Other than me and Miso.”

“And what makes you think you’re my friend?” Sasuke asks mildly. Naruto is now pressed firmly against his side, grinning up at him. He likes the way it feels, but he doesn’t like the curious gazes of the shinobi around them, no matter how innocent. He’s been walking Naruto home for a while now, but he’s always maintained a careful, professional distance. Most people would probably assume he’s just an ANBU shinobi escorting a civilian, but now…

He steps away from her, shoving his hands in his pockets. Naruto doesn’t say anything, but her smile falters just a little at the sudden distance and the look on his face.

“I hope Miso is alright,” she says after a moment of silence. 

Sasuke clears his throat and stares at the street in front of them. “Yeah. Me too.”

The next morning, Shikamaru approaches Sasuke with an invitation of his own.

“Ino’s having a birthday party,” he says. “You’re invited. And she wants you to bring Naruto.”

“ _Yamanaka_ Ino?” Sasuke repeats with a frown, recognising the name of their former classmate. “How the hell does she know about Naruto?”

Shikamaru doesn’t say anything, just takes a steady puff of his cigarette and nods at a passing ANBU. Sasuke feels his anger prickling at his skin.

“You told her?” he demands.

Shikamaru shrugs, unfazed in the face of Sasuke’s temper. “Plenty of people saw her cosying up to you yesterday. Ino works nearby, and once she heard about it, she started asking me questions.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Sasuke groans. “Now everyone’s going to know.”

“It was only a matter of time,” Shikamaru points out. “What’s the problem? At least your fan club can finally retire now they know you’re taken.”

“It’s nobody’s business,” Sasuke snaps. 

Shikamaru just shrugs. “Well, you should come anyway. Naruto might enjoy herself.”

He walks off before Sasuke can say anything, and he doesn’t even get the chance to stew in his anger for long because it’s time to go and pick Naruto up. 

She picks up on his foul mood immediately, giving him a curious look as she approaches. She’s holding a few heavy books and smiles at him when he offers to carry them for her.

“So,” she begins as they walk out of the building together. “Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry,” he snaps, but she just raises her eyebrows at him.

“Sure,” Naruto says. “Your chakra is spiking like that because you’re…happy. Got it.”

He kisses his teeth, annoyed at her perceptiveness, but he relents a few moments later and tells her about Shikamaru running his mouth to their former classmate. 

There’s an odd expression on Naruto’s face when he finishes speaking. “Oh,” she says as they reach their apartment building. “A party, huh.”

Sasuke resists the urge to groan at the hope in her voice. “We’re _not_ going—”

“Yeah, I get it,” Naruto mutters, and the heat in her voice is so surprising he falls silent.

Naruto doesn’t say anything about it for a few hours, but she watches him carefully over dinner. She loses her patience as they’re getting ready for bed.

“Do you not want people to know about me?” she blurts out. “About us?”

Sasuke pauses in pulling the sheets back, startled by the question. He straightens up the pillows, trying to think of how best to respond. He settles for the truth in its simplest form. "No." 

In response, Naruto’s eyes narrow into slits. “Why not?” she demands. “Are you ashamed?”

Sasuke stares at her before shaking his head. “What? No—”

“You have your fun in _here,”_ Naruto says, gesturing towards the space of their bedroom, “but you don’t want them to know who you’re having fun with. _What_ you’re having fun with. Since I’m just a demon to all of you—”

“That’s _not_ what this is about,” Sasuke snaps, chakra spiking. 

Naruto just sneers, marching over to sit at the edge of the bed. Sasuke watches her for a moment, anger disappearing entirely before he takes a step towards her. After another moment of hesitation, he kneels down in front of her.

“I am not ashamed of you,” Sasuke tells her firmly, shifting forward into her space. “Look at me, Naruto.”

Naruto still refuses to meet his gaze. So he reaches up to brush her bangs back from her forehead, pressing his lips against her crown. Something cold has settled in the pit of his stomach at the thought of her feeling less-than.

 _Look at what you’ve done to me,_ he thinks. 

Naruto lets out a startled yelp as he pushes her onto her back without warning, tugging up her shirt to reveal her stomach. He eyes the black patterns swirling around her belly button.

He runs his fingers across the skin there, tracing the tattoo gently. Naruto watches him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

And then Sasuke leans in to kiss her belly.

Naruto inhales sharply. “What—” she chokes out as he continues to press a second kiss, and then a third, against the ink of her tattoo. She gasps when he opens his licks at her smooth skin, tracing the intricate patterns with his tongue. “What are you doing?”

Sasuke is tugging her trousers down, but he pauses when he hears her question. “Do you want me to stop?” he asks seriously. 

She’s silent for a moment, but then she looks away. Her cheeks are red, her chest trembling. “No,” she says.

And then he’s pulling her underwear down and grabbing her by the knees to spread her legs. In a matter of minutes, he's licking his way inside her, spreading her open with his tongue as she whines loudly. Sasuke knows he will never, ever get enough of this: the taste of her, the sound of her moans and gasps in the quiet of their bedroom as she whimpers his name and urges his tongue even deeper inside. 

“Sasuke,” she whimpers as she reaches her peak, hips bucking wildly. He has two fingers inside her now, pumping in and out slowly, and she sounds like she’s losing her mind a little. “I — I’m—”

Once Naruto has trembled and whined her way through her orgasm, he pulls away and lies down on the bed beside her, watching her catch her breath. He likes seeing her like this: sweating profusely, staring up at the ceiling in a daze because of what he's done to her. 

“ _Not_ ashamed of me, then,” Naruto after a while. “Got it.”

Sasuke ignores the tent in his own pants in favour of brushing her hair back from her forehead again. "I just don’t like people knowing my business. _Our_ business,” he mutters. “Especially the stupid fuckers in ANBU. I'm not used to it. But I’m not ashamed of you, no.”

Naruto is silent for a long moment. “Okay,” she says. “But I still want to go to that party.”

Sasuke groans so loudly it wakes Miso up from his nap. In response, the cat proceeds to summon a week’s worth of energy and bounces around their living room all night. 

This annoys Naruto enormously _(“he needs a stable sleeping routine, Sasuke!”)_ , so he shuts her up by telling her they’ll be going to Ino’s party after all. In all honesty, the thought of attending makes his skin crawl, but the way Naruto’s face lights up tells him it will be worth it. 

Kakashi seems totally unsurprised by the turn of events. When Naruto forgets herself as they’re watching the dishes and takes her hand in his, Sasuke glances sharply at his former sensei. But Kakashi simply smiles, eye curving up happily.

He doesn’t say anything until he’s at the door — and even then, his words are addressed to Naruto. “I told you,” he says. Naruto rolls her eyes in response, cheeks red.

“What was that about?” Sasuke asks. 

Naruto just taps at her nose and winks. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Yes, I would,” Sasuke grumbles. “That’s why I asked.” 

He doesn’t bother asking again, though. And later that night, while they’re sitting on the couch reading, Naruto’s hands dips into his pants and she jerks him off for the first time. The feel of her hands on him, soft and eager to please, feel better than he even imagined. 

Naruto stares at him as her hand works up a steady rhythm, her lips parted and pupils dilated at the sound of his groans. He’s so overwhelmed by the intensity of her blue gaze and the tenderness in her touch that he blushes and looks away. 

This seems to delight her to no end, because she laughs and kisses his lips, his cheeks, his eyelids and his forehead. The tenderness in each kiss sends shivers down his spine. 

Later, she props her head on his chest in bed and looks at him with her blue, blue eyes. Sasuke can’t stop staring at her, marvelling at how things between them are so different now, at how perfectly she has fit into his life. 

“Don’t forget,” she says, interrupting him from his thoughts. “Your buddy Shikamaru is coming over tomorrow.”

Sasuke stares at her for a moment. He then reaches for a pillow, holding it over her head. “I’m going to kill you.”

Naruto starts laughing so loudly he _does_ cover her face with the pillow, but Miso wakes up anyway.


	10. Naruto

Shikamaru is great dinner company. He’s laid-back and talks in a languid, slow voice as though he just can't be bothered to speak, but he’s witty and kind. He treats Naruto just like she's anybody else. Plus, he seems perfectly happy to dish on how Sasuke was as an Academy student. 

“A complete know-it-all,” he tells her. “And a real show-off. The teacher asked him to make one clone, and he ended up filling the classroom with _fifty.”_ He shakes his head in disdain, but his voice lacks any real heat. “Can you believe that? Fifty bratty, snobby little Sasukes. A complete nightmare.”

“I can totally believe that,” Naruto says, chuckling into her glass of water.

“Just because I didn’t spend all day sleeping at the back of the classroom,” Sasuke mutters, glaring at Shikamaru, “does not make me a know-it-all.”

“The desks in that classroom were something else,” Shikamaru insists, looking almost wistful. “I swear, they gave me some of the best sleep of my life.”

After dinner, he kindly refuses Naruto's offer to play a game of checkers, instead saying he prefers shogi. When she tells him she doesn't know what that is, he promises to bring his set next time.

"Next time?" Sasuke repeats, taking the dishes over to the kitchen sink. "You're never stepping foot in my house again, Nara."

"Ignore him," Naruto says quickly. "I'd really like to learn how to play. It sounds fun."

Shikamaru slips on his boots by the door. "It is fun. A bit tricky at first, but you'll get the hang of it. My sensei taught me." Naruto holds the door open for him, grinning as he walks out and lifts a hand in goodbye. "Thanks for having me, Naruto. And you're a pretty decent chef, Uchiha. See you at work tomorrow."

Sasuke rolls his eyes and says nothing as he begins wiping down the table fiercely. Naruto shuts the door with a smile, already plotting when to next invite Shikamaru over so they can get started on this whole shogi thing.

She’s cleaning up the dishes after (and trying to triumph over a stubbornly dirty cooking pot) when Sasuke approaches her by the sink. 

“I’ll be on a mission for two weeks,” he tells her. “Accompanying the Hokage to a diplomatic meeting. I’m leaving on Friday.”

Naruto pauses. “Two weeks,” she repeats, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She _hates_ when Sasuke goes on missions. Miso is excellent company, but he can’t banter and bicker with him, and he doesn’t respond to her wry comments and jokes with anything more than a blank stare.

“Try not to miss me too much,” Sasuke says. He has a knowing look in his eye when she glances up at him.

She rolls her eyes and resumes scrubbing the pot vigorously, ranting under her breath about how annoying and presumptuous he is, she’s glad she’ll have some time away from him (even though she _will_ miss him like crazy, she always does). 

"When I come back," he adds quietly. "We can do something. Or go somewhere." 

She glances up at him. "Yeah, we have to go to Yamanaka Ino's party, right? She invited us." 

Sasuke looks horrified at the reminder. "Not that," he hisses. When Naruto scowls at him, he carries on, "I mean, yes, we'll go to that damn party. I meant somewhere else. Just us two.”

"As in a _date?"_ Naruto asks loudly, beaming as she takes off her kitchen gloves. Sasuke doesn't answer - he's too busy glaring out of the window - but there's a slight flush creeping up his neck. "Hey, I'd love to! Where will we go? For ramen?" 

He glances at her sharply, as though surprised by her reaction (which doesn't make any sense, because by now it's obvious to anyone with eyes just how much Naruto loves spending time with Sasuke). 

But then he gives her a little nod, tapping his fingers on the edge of the sink. "For ramen." 

That night, they sit cross-legged on the living room floor as Naruto goes over some of the sealing techniques he’s been asking about ever since she left one of her scrolls open in the bedroom. Even though it’s well into the night and he should be getting some rest, Sasuke seems fascinated by the markings. 

“They look like the ones on your stomach,” he points out, poring over the scrolls spread out in front of them. 

Naruto explains the various scrolls and their functions in great detail, telling him which ones to use in the height of battle and which ones are better suited to make a quick and neat escape. Sasuke is a quick learner and an attentive listener. He asks intelligent questions and seems genuinely curious about the history of fuinjutsu and its link to the Uzumaki clan.

It feels good to be teaching him for once. _Naruto-sensei,_ she thinks with a smug smile. She likes the sound of that.

“They destroyed my mother’s village because of this knowledge,” Naruto tells him. “Granny says people fear what they don’t understand. I guess that’s why they all see me as…you know. Since they don’t understand how someone can have a demon sealed inside of them and _not_ be a demon themselves.”

Sasuke nods in agreement. He looks up from the scrolls, an odd expression on his face. “I used to think of you that way,” he admits. “Can you forgive me for that?”

The idea of forgiving Sasuke for _anything_ is so ludicrous, Naruto can’t help but bark out a laugh. “I know you did,” she says. “It was pretty obvious from our first few meetings. It wasn’t even a surprise. But you don’t think of me like that anymore, do you?”

Sasuke doesn’t hesitate. “No.”

Naruto shrugs. “Well, then. That’s all that matters.” She kicks her feet out, stretching them so her toes are brushing against his knees. “I mean, I used to think _you_ were pretty horrible. And yet, here we are.”

Sasuke gives her a wry smile, rolling up the scrolls. “Never thought it would end up like this, did you?”

She shakes her head, giving him a smile of her own. She feels shy all of a sudden, faced with the sudden realisation that she is _married,_ this is her _husband,_ and that they have built a life together. 

“Remember how mean you were when we first met?” Naruto asks. She puts on an exaggerated scowl, deepening her voice in a parody of his behaviour. _“I don’t want to marry this idiot, I’m Uchiha Sasuke, I’m so cool and strong,_ blah blah.”

“And you?” Sasuke snaps at once, a slight flush on his cheeks at the memory of their first encounter. “Twenty minutes late to the meeting because of a fucking _cat._ You looked like a drowned rat yourself.”

She bites down a laugh, oddly pleased he remembered that incident (even though it _was_ pretty memorable). At that moment, Miso strolls past casually, carrying a sock in his mouth. She strokes his back lovingly and raises her eyebrows at Sasuke, as if to say, _can you really blame me?_

Sasuke rolls his eyes, getting up from the floor. “ _Twenty minutes._ ”

“And I’d do it again,” Naruto tells him fiercely. She rises to her feet, tucking the scrolls away in his travelling bag. “Now, let’s go to bed.”

The next two weeks without Sasuke are extremely dull. He's nowhere near as loud as Naruto, nor does he take up as much space, but the apartment still feels so quiet and empty without him. She misses their morning training, their conversations over dinner, their bickering, and their late-night... _activities._ Naruto’s routine carries on as usual, with a replacement ANBU picking her up every and dropping her off to and from HQ. It’s usually someone very boring and completely lacking in a personality, and they all ignore Naruto’s attempts to strike up a conversation.

Kakashi is busy too, having recently taken on a new genin team, but he still manages to make time for her. He’s still teasing her about the whole Sasuke thing, and constantly brings it up with a smug tone.

“I mean, it’s cute, but it’s also rather gross,” he admits, staring the checkers board one evening. He's already had two glasses of a bottle of wine _he_ brought over, and Naruto is tempted to confiscate the alcohol from him now. “I could’ve happily gone an entire lifetime without seeing that awful lovey-dovey look on Sasuke’s face.”

Naruto scowls and moves one of her pieces. “He does not look lovey-dovey! And stop bullying him when he’s not even here to defend himself.”

Kakashi chuckles. He’s losing — badly — but he doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest. “Yeah, yeah. Your move.”

Surprisingly, Miso also seems affected by Sasuke’s absence. At night, he curls up in his side of the bed instead of by Naruto’s side. One morning, she spots him gazing at Sasuke’s spare boots almost longingly. The two of them have never been close, but Naruto thinks there's still a sort of camaraderie that's formed between them since Miso arrived.

“Don’t worry,” she says softly, picking him up and kissing him on the neck. “He’ll be back soon.”

On the thirteenth evening, Naruto steps out of the bathroom, having just washed up and slipped on her pajamas. She settles under the covers with a sigh, reaching out for the empty space beside her with her fingers. She wonders if he'll be back tomorrow, or if it'll be another quiet night for her. She hopes he's okay. 

She barely even closes her eyes when she hears the apartment door open and close quietly. She immediately relaxes at the sense of Sasuke’s chakra, but her heart starts pounding in her chest with the knowledge that he’s finally _back._

He doesn’t step into the bedroom for a good thirty minutes, busy in the bathroom outside and putting his things away like the neat-freak he is. But as he walks into their room, she watches him through half-lidded eyes, barely able to see him in the dark as he slips into bed.

“You’re awake,” he says quietly. 

Sasuke shifts closer to her just as she reaches for him. Naruto shifts a little as she rolls on top of him, his arms wrapping around her waist as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. 

“I was falling asleep when you walked in,” she mumbles into his neck. He’s rubbing up and down her back now, and she can’t even bring herself to feel guilty for squashing him. “Are you alright? How was the mission?”

Sasuke sighs, reaching up to card his fingers through her hair. “Fine,” he mumbles. He doesn’t sound tired, but she can tell he’s not bothered to go into details now that he’s just returned.

She smiles. He’s so warm and solid underneath her. She pulls back a little and places a soft kiss on his jaw. “I missed you.”

Sasuke goes still. She can feel their warmth of his big hands seeping through the thin material of her night-shirt, and is hyper-aware of the minuscule distance separating their bodies.

Sasuke notices it, too. He turns his head so his lips are brushing against her ear, sending a shiver down her spine when he speaks. 

“How much did you miss me?” he asks her, his voice a low rumble that reverberates through her entire body.

Naruto’s breath catches in her throat as his hands dip under her shirt, rubbing at her bare back now. “A lot.”

That seems to be enough for Sasuke. Still, when his hands tug at the waistband of her pajama pants, she chokes out a laugh. She can’t help it — she’s just surprised. “Seriously? You just got back from a mission.”

Sasuke pauses. She can’t see his face, but she can imagine the rise of his eyebrows, the question in his eyes upon hearing her words. “Should I stop?”

She huffs, burying her face in his neck again. The smug bastard can tell she wants it (because with him, she _always_ wants it). “I didn’t say that,” she mutters, inhaling sharply when he lifts her up with a firm arm around her waist so he can pull her pants and underwear down with his other hand. “I just thought you’d be _tired.”_

Sasuke hums casually, returning his hands to the small of her back before dipping lower. He shifts a little to suck at her neck, his hands squeezing her ass harder with each little sigh she lets out. She bites down on her lip when he reaches under her shirt for her breasts, playing with her hardened nipples one at a time. 

She’s almost shaking in anticipation when he reaches down to tug his own pants down, freeing his erection. This isn’t the first time they’ve done it like this, but her legs still feel a bit shaky as he helps her sink down on his length, biting back a whimper as every inch enters her.

Sasuke pulls her down for a fierce kiss before he starts moving properly, barely giving her a moment to adjust before thrusting hard and fast. Naruto digs her fingers into his shoulders, trying and failing to keep her head up. She bites down a trembling moan as he bounces her up and down in his lap at an unforgiving pace. It feels good — _too_ good — and she buries her face in his neck again, trying to meet each of his harsh thrusts with the desperate roll of her own hips.

“Fuck,” he hisses minutes later, guiding her onto her back and pushing inside her again. Naruto holds his face in her hands when he leans down to kiss her, licking his way into her mouth desperately.

Later, Sasuke brushes her hair back from her sweaty forehead. It’s still dark, but there’s a sliver of moonlight shining in through the window now. 

“Was it too much?” he asks, looking far too composed for her liking.

Naruto rolls onto her side with a deep, satisfied groan. “Do successful missions always make you horny? Is it some kind of fetish?”

Sasuke hits her with a pillow. “You weren’t fucking complaining.”

“No, I wasn’t,” she agrees, recalling how she’d been unable to keep her voice down towards the end because it just felt _so good._

Sasuke insists on washing up again ( _“My first shower was to get all the blood and grime off,”_ he tells her matter-of-factly), and they take turns in the shower before settling back into bed again. 

Sasuke isn’t injured, but he _was_ granted a day off by the Hokage to recover anyway. Naruto makes a mental note to thank the old hag for it later, because Sasuke decides to spend all of it in bed with Naruto.

He eventually gets up to make them some food, stretching lazily as he heads out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. He’s in such a good mood that he says they can eat in bed for once, so Naruto stays and waits for him to return.

When they’ve finished eating, Sasuke takes their plates to the kitchen and comes back carrying something in his hands, an odd look on his face. As he hands it to her, she realises it’s a photograph.

“For you,” he says by way of explanation.

Naruto takes it, eyes widening. It’s a picture of her parents. They’re in the forest, dressed in standard jounin wear, standing under an arching willow tree with enormous smiles on their faces.

They look so happy.

Naruto glances at Sasuke sharply. Her voice comes out as a whisper when she asks, “Where did you get this?”

“I found it in the archives when I was doing some research for my mission,” Sasuke says. “I recognised their names because the Hokage mentioned them to me once. I thought — I thought you might like to have it.”

Naruto stares at the photo again, unable to speak. The colour of the photo has faded over the years, but she can still see the bright red colour of her mother’s hair, the brilliant blue of her father’s eyes. She feels her own eyes fill with tears. She’s seen a photo of them before, on their wedding day, but this …

“It was taken after a successful mission they went on together,” Sasuke says into the silence. “A year before you were born.”

Naruto swallows, trying to find the proper words to say. “Thank you,” she manages in the end. Sasuke just nods at her, his eyes gentle. 

Eventually, once she's composed herself, she draws him into a conversation about Miso’s latest adventures during his two-week absence. He’s started to demand to be let out of the house, scratching at the door impatiently every afternoon, which both frustrates and terrifies Naruto to no end.

“I wonder what he’s _doing_ out there,” she says, laying back down in his lap after a while. “Getting into fights? Getting some female cats pregnant?”

“You said he’s pretty old,” Sasuke remarks, combing her hair with his fingers. “Do you think he’s still got it in him?”

Naruto chuckles, stretching out her legs. “I don’t know. Maybe. It wouldn’t be too bad, would it? Having some more cats in this place. One big happy family.”

Sasuke pauses. _“No fucking way.”_

She laughs out loud at the mental image of Sasuke holed up in the bathroom as an entire clan of cats roam the rest of the apartment. He’s probably right, though. As much as she loves cats, it would be way too much work.

“We could have a family of our own instead,” she says instead. “Proud members of the Uzumaki-Uchiha household.”

Sasuke’s hands go still in her hair. He’s silent for so long, Naruto feels her stomach begin to churn in anxiety. 

But then Sasuke gently tugs on her hair again and scoffs. “Uzumaki-Uchiha,” he repeats dryly. “What the fuck makes you think your name is going first?”

Naruto sits up, jaw dropping open. “If I give birth to them, _my_ name is going first. End of story. Besides, it just sounds better.”

“It does not,” Sasuke snaps at once, looking deeply offended by the idea. “Our wedding papers literally say our children will be named _Uchiha._ You should know. You signed the damn thing.” 

“Arrogant bastard,” Naruto grumbles. The memory is clear in her mind: Sasuke hovering over her impatiently as she read the paperwork. 

“And there’s the matter of them inheriting the Sharingan,” Sasuke adds.

“Not to mention the whole Jinchuuriki thing,” Naruto says with a sigh. She rubs at her eyes tiredly. “I just _know_ the Council will have a lot to say about that.”

Sasuke frowns, looking deep in thought. “A lot to say, indeed.”

“Let’s just hope Danzo kicks the bucket before then,” Naruto says, trying for a laugh. “And the other oldies too.”

But the joke lands flat, and they both fall silent for a long time, distracted by their own thoughts. The more Naruto thinks about it, the more uncertain she feels.

She shifts a little so that she’s facing Sasuke properly. He’s staring down at his hands, expression unreadable, so Naruto reaches for him. She rubs at the scar between his thumb and index finger before squeezing his hands tight.

“Sasuke,” she says carefully. “Forget the Council for a moment. Do _you_ want to have children?”

It takes him a long time to look up. His expression is still carefully blank, but Naruto can see the slightest bit of uncertainty in his eyes. 

“I never wanted to,” he admits. “After what happened to my clan, I just…I completely rejected the idea. The Council tried to push me into it, saying I should restore the Uchiha name, but I wasn’t interested.” 

He pauses for a moment, raising his eyebrows as though recalling a bit of mildly interesting information. “That’s probably why they orchestrated this whole thing, isn’t it?”

Naruto swallows, giving a half-shrug. She’d been expecting that - and truthfully, she understands. Witnessing the massacre of his entire clan at the hands of his own _brother_ had traumatised Sasuke beyond belief. The idea of settling down and having a child, and bringing something so precious yet vulnerable into the world, probably terrified him.

It terrified her, too.

“And what about now?” she asks. “Do you…still feel the same way?”

Sasuke glances away, giving a half-hearted shrug that only emphasises the tension in his shoulders. “I’ve thought about it. I don’t think I’d be a good father. You know what I‘m like. I’m a shinobi. I’m a soldier. I don’t… children are a completely different responsibility.”

Naruto nods in understanding. She’s about to come up with something to fill the silence when he continues speaking, his tone measured.

“But with you by my side…maybe it wouldn’t be a complete disaster,” he tells her. “Maybe it would…” 

He trails off again, unable to find the words he’s looking for. He looks at Naruto carefully. “What about you? Do you want children?” 

Naruto takes a deep breath, and it takes all of her willpower to keep her rambling somewhat coherent. “I get what you mean,” she admits. “I mean, I grew up locked away like some kind of freak. And I’m scared about what might happen if we do have children. Like, what would the Council say? Would they try anything weird? Would the seal be affected? And I don’t know anything about parenting or motherhood.”

Just mentioning the possibilities out loud make her feel increasingly panicked. But she’d be lying to herself and Sasuke if she stops there.

Naruto takes another deep breath. “But I know I love you,” she tells him. “And you’re my family now. And if that family were to get a little bit bigger…I’d be happy.”

Naruto doesn’t think any words could describe the happiness it would give her. 

“And I know you’d be a great father,” she adds. “If we have children.”

Sasuke is watching her intently, an unreadable look on his face. “You think so?”

Naruto smiles. “Yeah.” 

Sasuke returns the smile, and her breath catches in her throat at the sight of it. But then he shrugs, resuming his usual blank expression in a matter of seconds.

“We didn’t even use protection the first few times,” he muses. “So it might actually end up happening either way.”

Naruto splutters, remembering that yes, they really didn’t use protection. “Oh my god! How can you say that so casually? And why didn’t you say anything?”

“I forgot,” Sasuke snaps. “Why didn’t _you_ remember?”

“I’m kind of new to this whole thing,” she mutters. “Plus, you’re always reminding me to do stuff. You could’ve reminded me about this. This is a big deal. A very big deal!”

Sasuke shrugs again. "Then it's a good thing we've talked about it, then." He's so calm it fills her with surprise (and relief) more than anything, and she can't help but relax, too. 

Naruto stares down at his hand in her lap, squeezing it with both of her own. “I don't _feel_ different. But I should still book an appointment with Tsunade,” she says, struck by the mental image of herself heavily pregnant and waddling around the apartment in a few months’ time. “Just to check. Just in case.”

“Yes,” Sasuke says. Then he adds, “And we should probably arrange a meeting to clear everything up. The logistics of having children, I mean.”

“She’ll be on our side, I know it,” Naruto insists firmly. Now that it's a real, tangible possibility they're both open to, she's filled with a fierce sense of determination. “And Kakashi. And even if Council members want to try anything, they’ll probably kick the bucket before they can. So that’s them out of the way.”

Sasuke’s lips quirk up. “Talking about our honourable Council like that is borderline treason, you know.” 

Naruto gives him a grin of her own, tugging on the fingers of the hand that’s still in her lap. “You planning on telling them, ANBU?”

Sasuke leans down to kiss her. She smiles into the kiss, her heart full, but then she remembers something very important. She pulls back to slap him in the chest harshly. “Oi, you’re not going to say it back?”

“Say what back?” he demands, rubbing at his chest in annoyance. 

Naruto rolls her eyes. She lays on her back and turns on her side with a huff, not wanting to have to remind him. It’s beneath her. Besides, the whole thing doesn’t matter. It’s stupid.

But there’s no getting past Sasuke, not ever. He puts two and two together in no time, and he scoffs. He tugs at her so that she's sitting up again, legs folded underneath her and facing him. “What is this, Icha Icha Romance?” She's about to shove him again and lay back down, but then he dips his head and adds, a little quietly, “I love you, too. I thought it was obvious by now.”

Naruto feels the world shifting beneath her feet at the words. _I love you, I love you,_ she wants to tell him again and again. But all she can manage to say is, “You read Icha Icha Romance?”

Sasuke gets up with a scowl, his cheeks red as he stalks out of the room. “Alright, moment’s over. Go to hell.”

“I’m just wondering,” she continues with a grin, following him into the kitchen. Miso is spread out on the floor, and he lazily reaches for her feet as she passes. “Did Kakashi introduce it to you? Or did you introduce it to him?”

“Shut up,” he repeats. He’s really embarrassed now, Naruto can tell, so she does shut up and takes her seat at the table for dinner. Sasuke avoids eye contact for the entire meal, and when he finally looks up and sees her beaming at him, he says again, _“Shut up.”_

“But I didn’t say anything,” she laughs, shaking her head fondly. 

Yamanaka Ino's birthday party turns out to be a casual dinner in a local bar and grill.

Naruto is introduced to so many people her head spins. There’s Ino, the hostess, who is probably the most gorgeous woman she’s ever seen. There’s another woman with pink hair named Sakura — Ino’s childhood friend — who works at the hospital and is an associate of Tsunade. She frowns a little when Naruto refers to the Hokage as “Granny”, but is generally pleasant for the most part (even if she does stare at Sasuke rather longingly all evening).

There’s Shikamaru, who waves at Naruto when she walks in. He’s sitting with a large man named Chouji, and another named Kiba, who has a huge wolf-looking dog named Akamaru curled up by his feet. Chouji and Kiba spend most of the evening fighting over food, which seems to irritate a mysterious, silent man clad in dark clothes and sunglasses.

“That’s Shino,” Chouji says around a mouthful of food. He nudges Shino in the side, and Shino dips his head in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he tells Naruto, his deep voice measured and calm. It reminds him of Sasuke in an odd way, and she can't help but smiles at him in response.

Naruto ends up sitting opposite them, with Sasuke on one side and a shy, quiet woman on her left. She has long dark hair and pale eyes that glance around the table nervously.

“Hyuga Hinata,” she says by way of introduction, her voice barely above a whisper. She’s so tense she almost jumps when Ino asks where her cousin is.

“He’ll be coming soon, I think,” Hinata responds, eyebrows knitted together in uncertainty. Ino huffs and goes back to her food, muttering about lazy, disrespectful latecomers and all the effort she went through to organise this thing.

Naruto turns to Sasuke, who is suffering through a stilted conversation with Kiba and Chouji. The two men seem to have come to an agreement regarding their dispute, and are now peppering Sasuke with a number of questions about ANBU, the Hokage, his recent missions and — of course — Naruto. 

This piques the interest of Ino and Sakura, who immediately join in with their own questions and commentary as though they’d been waiting for the opportunity to do so all evening.

 _“Such_ a surprise—”

“Never saw it coming!”

“I mean, I’m happy for you, of course—”

“Is she — you know?”

The last comment makes Sasuke stiffen, so much that Naruto instinctively leans into his side before he can say anything. But he doesn’t have to, because Shino puts his fork down and pointedly says, “I think she can hear you.” 

Ino and Sakura immediately blush and turn back to their meals, starting up their own mundane conversation within seconds. Naruto gives him a grateful smile, but he simply dips his head again and turns back to his food.

Naruto is about to go back to her own meal, and maybe start a conversation of her own with Sasuke, when she spots Sakura staring at her. There are all sorts of emotions in her eyes, so Naruto just gives her a smile. “The food’s really good here, isn’t it?”

Sakura hesitates for the briefest moment, but then she returns the smile with a satisfied nod, green eyes sparkling. “Yes, it is.”

Just then, three more people walk inside. The tallest looks like Hinata (long dark hair, pale eyes, ridiculously pretty). He’s accompanied by a man in a green bodysuit and the worst bowlcut known to man, and a petite woman carrying an enormous sword. If the restaurant owner seems troubled by this, he doesn’t show it. 

Shinobi, Naruto is quickly realising, are very weird.

“We aren’t too late, are we?” green-bowl-cut-man demands. “I’d _hate_ to be late.”

“No, we’re right on time,” the dark-haired man says. 

“Ten minutes late is not on time, Neji, but whatever,” Ino grumbles, rolling her eyes when he promptly ignores her.

The newcomers sit down at the far end of the table, but he looks around the party carefully before his stern gaze reaches Sasuke (who is ignoring him in favour of taking a sip of his drink) and then finally settles on Naruto.

“Ah,” he says. “You must be the Jinchuuriki.”

His tone is neutral, but there’s a slight curl to his lip that Naruto immediately recognises. Everybody falls silent, exchanging nervous looks. 

The brown-haired woman by his side pipes up with a chuckle. “We were all pretty surprised when we found out Sasuke got hitched.”

“What do you mean? He had all the Academy girls fawning over him,” Neji says with a slight sneer. “But despite all the possible options, you chose to settle for…” he trails off, looking at Naruto with obvious contempt in his eyes. “A Jinchuuriki.”

Everyone exchanges awkward looks again, and green-bowl-cut-man has the grace to look slightly sympathetic. Naruto flushes, swallowing down a bite of food. It’s been a long time since she’d been exposed to the vitriol of villagers because of who she is. Spending so much time with Sasuke and Kakashi has numbed her to the reality of it, and now it stings more than she'd care to admit. 

She’s about to respond ( _neutrally,_ because despite her anger and humiliation she doesn’t want to make a scene), but Sasuke puts his drink down and shifts slightly to face the man.

“Her name is Naruto,” he says calmly. “Not _Jinchuuriki._ And she is my wife.” 

Hyuga Neji glares at him for a moment, eyebrows knitted together as though sizing up a potential enemy. Sasuke remains impassive, leaning back slightly as though utterly relaxed, but Naruto can feel his chakra spiking in warning. 

She glances between the two of them nervously. The tension in the air is thick, but then Neji lifts his shoulders in a slight, too-casual shrug and turns away.

Gradually, the conversations at the table are resumed, and people dig into their meals with great enthusiasm. Green-bowl-cut-man introduces himself as Lee, and the brown-haired woman as Tenten. Along with Neji, the trio attended the Academy the year before Sasuke and everyone else. But now they’re now all the same rank — jounin — and working in a variety of different fields. 

“Sakura’s our medical expert,” Ino explains. “She’s healed us all back to health a bunch of times.”

Naruto wants to know more about their childhoods and their career paths, and they answer her questions with surprised but pleasant smiles. Neji pretends she doesn’t exist for the rest of the evening, even when she offers to refill his glass of water, but that’s fine by her. She ignores the way Kiba and Hinata stare at her when they think she isn’t looking, and the way Sakura flinches as she reaches over for an extra fork. Despite everything, they’re trying their best to be friendly. 

Sasuke’s body remains stiff with tension, however. Naruto glances at him every now and then, noticing his plate is still full and his arms are crossed over his chest. He’s had a couple of drinks, but hasn’t relaxed at all even though it’s been a few hours.

Naruto nudges him gently, nodding at his plate. “You going to eat that?”

Wordlessly, he pushes his plate towards her, and she digs in with a smile.

After trying and failing to draw Hinata into a conversation (Naruto has never met anyone quite as shy as the pale-eyed woman, who looks like she’s about to have a heart attack whenever Naruto so much as smiles at her), she nudges Sasuke again.

“Ready to go?” she asks, and Sasuke finally looks awake for the first time all night.

They’re up and ready to leave in a matter of moments, with Ino firmly shutting down Sasuke’s attempts to pay for their meals. “It was my invitation,” she says sternly. “I’m just happy you showed up.”

“Happy birthday, Ino,” Naruto says. “I had a great time. Thanks for inviting us. It was nice to meet you all.”

“Thank you for the food,” Sasuke mutters, walking past the table without acknowledging anybody else.

If anyone is offended by his brusque behaviour, they don’t show it. If anything, they seem used to it. Ino waves at him, Lee and Kiba shout out a farewell, and Shino gives a little nod. Even Hinata mumbles goodbye under her breath.

Neji wrinkles his nose in distaste as Sasuke walks past him. It almost looks like Sakura is trying to make eye contact with him, her lips slightly parted as though wanting to call his name. He ignores them all and marches out. Naruto gives them all a half-hearted wave before following Sasuke out the bar.

The streets outside are largely empty except for a few people smoking under the streetlights. Naruto sidles up to Sasuke and nudges him in the side, unable to hide the massive grin on her face.

“Stop nudging me,” he snaps, pulling away from her half-heartedly.

“That was so _awkward,”_ Naruto exclaims. Now that they're alone, she can't help but ramble about the chaotic evening. “What the hell! And you made things worse, you know, with how you were scowling and glaring all evening. I think I won most of them over, except maybe Sakura — who _totally_ has the hots for you, by the way — and that Neji guy. What was his _problem?_ He doesn't like me, but he hates your guts. It’s obvious. Was he your childhood rival? I’ve always wanted one of those.”

Sasuke doesn’t stop in his tracks, but he blinks at her in that bewildered, bemused way he does whenever she talks very fast. “No. He wasn’t even in my Academy class.”

“Well, what’s his problem, then?” she asks.

Sasuke shrugs. “Our clans never liked each other. People propped them up as rivals, and I guess he took that personally. I couldn’t care less.” He pauses, frowning as though remembering something particularly unpleasant. “And Sakura does not have the hots for me. She was my teammate.”

“She totally does,” Naruto insists. She tries not to feel too jealous that she was never Sasuke’s teammate but (very pretty, very accomplished) Sakura was. “She was still nice, don’t get me wrong. But it was so obvious. She was staring at you all night, like something out of a romance novel.”

“Read a lot of those, do you?” Sasuke says dryly.

She scowls at him. “Some of them are very well-written. You should give them a try. Rest your brain from those boring mission reports and scrolls you stare at all night.”

Sasuke scoffs, kicking lazily at a pebble on the path with one of his boots. He looks far more relaxed now than he did at the bar. 

“But it wasn’t so bad, was it?” she asks. “Socialising.”

Sasuke looks like he can feel a headache coming on. “It was unbearable. I don’t understand how you enjoy that kind of thing.”

“I guess when you’re barred from interacting with a lot of people your entire life, you start to crave it,” she shrugs. The night-time air is chilly even in the middle of spring, so she presses closer into his side, smiling when he doesn’t pull away. “Plus, I think people are cool. It’s fun to learn about them and what they’re like.”

“Trust me, they're all annoying,” Sasuke responds evenly. 

“Even me?” Naruto asks, giving him a dazzling smile. 

He gives her a side-long glare. “ _Especially_ you.”

Sasuke keeps his promise about taking her on a _date_. Even though he seems exhausted by the birthday party, he takes her out to eat ramen the following evening. It's late, but the ramen shop is still open. The owner, an old man named Teuchi, welcomes them both with a pleasant smile and an encouragement to take their time ordering. Naruto stares at the bright, colourful menu with wide eyes. 

"This is already the best date ever," she breathes, looking at all of the options. "I don't even have to eat a bite. You win." 

"Just hurry up and order," Sasuke tells her, his cheeks tinged pink at the praise. He's fiddling with some chopsticks and pointedly ignoring the stares of onlookers. 

Naruto ends up ordering two bowls, just because she can't choose between miso and pork. Sasuke indulges her, even giving her some of his own slices of beef when she finishes eating. Unlike her, he eats slower, saying he chooses to savour his food (even if he thinks ramen is painfully mediocre). She makes a mental note to borrow some money (from Kakashi, or maybe the Hokage) so she can treat _him_ to his favourite food some time. His birthday is in July, but she doesn't want to wait that long. Not when he's always putting her first and constantly doing what he can to make her happy. 

He's exceptionally handsome in the dull yellow lighting of the ramen stand. She takes in the sight of his perfect jawline, his dark hair that's been tied back, the slope of his nose. There's a warm feeling blossoming in her chest as she looks at him, as though she can't quite believe her own luck. 

"I might have to thank the Council after all," she says under her breath. When Sasuke glances at her in confusion, she takes another bite and shrugs. "Nothing. Just saying this tastes great." 

“You know, we did things all wrong,” she mumbles in bed later that night. 

Sasuke's voice is muffled by the pillows. “What do you mean?”

She rolls onto her back, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling. “Most people date each other first. Then they have sex and get married and have children. Or, if they’re really well-behaved, they get married and have sex and have children. But we did things in the wrong order.” It’s so ludicrous she can’t help but laugh. “We got married, then we had sex, and we just went on our first date. It’s so weird. Totally not normal at all.”

Sasuke huffs. “There’s not much about either of us that’s _normal_ in the first place,” he responds. “What matters is that we made it work.”

Naruto glances at him from the corner of her eye. He looks content and relaxed, his hair falling around his face as he lies back on his elbows. She loves being with him like this, curled up in their bed and legs tangled together. In these moments, she can pretend the world outside doesn’t exist. 

And even though it _does,_ and the future still remains so fragile and uncertain, she knows now that she won’t have to face it alone. Not anymore.

“Yeah,” she agrees, reaching for his hand. “We did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> This is by far the fluffiest thing I’ve ever written and it was a lot of fun to work on this fic. I appreciate all the comments and feedback on my writing, as I’m always looking to improve. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
